[2018]DLHC3948 • December 21, 2018 • High Court
THE REPUBLIC vs. KWABENA AMPOFO APPIAH, EDWARD AWUAH AND JACOB BEECHAM EX PARTE:MRS. PATIENCE ATTA-AFFRAM
The Applicant, Mrs. Patience Atta-Affram, sought judicial reliefs including declarations and orders for allocation and possession of a house under the Staff Housing Scheme of the Defendant, State Housing Company (SHC). After a judgment in her favor, the Applicant was put into possession of the house by court order and police assistance. Subsequently, the Respondents, officials of SHC, allegedly caused the SHC Armed Task Force to remove the Applicant's belongings and dispossess her, despite court orders and police intervention. The Respondents denied these allegations, claiming lack of knowledge and absence from the scene.
read moreAPPLICATION FOR COMMITTAL FOR CONTEMPT i. Introduction: [1] The denial of liberty of any citizen of our Republic resulting from a charge of contempt is effected in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. Even though there is no specific law on contempt in Ghana, the absence of codification of the law of contempt in Ghana does not in itself violate the principle that there must not be crime or punishment except in accordance with fixed or pre determined law. This is because the charge of contempt of court in Ghana rests in the concept of the public defiance that accompanies the charge of contempt. To establish contempt in Ghana the Applicant must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused defied or disobeyed a court order, with intent, knowledge or recklessness as to the fact that the public disobedience will tend to undermine and attenuate the authority of the court. [2] As previously stated by this Court ‘contempt of court is the big stick of civil litig.....