[2018]DLSC3048 • November 21, 2018 • Supreme Court •
ELIKPLIM AGBEMAVA vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND ALFRED TUAH-YEBOAH vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND NANA ASANTE BEDIATUO vs. ATTORNEY GENERAL
Three individuals (Godwin Ako Gunn, Alistair Nelson, and Salifu Maase alias Mugabe) were convicted by the Supreme Court for contempt of court following disparaging statements made on a radio station about an ongoing Supreme Court case. They were sentenced to four months imprisonment and fines. Subsequently, the President exercised the prerogative of mercy by partially remitting their sentences, which led to legal challenges questioning the constitutionality of this exercise.
read moreBENIN, JSC:-This matter calls for the court’s interpretation of article 72 of the Constitution, 1992, whether or not the exercise of the prerogative of mercy extends to conviction for an offence founded on contempt of court. The court is also called upon to decide whether the prerogative of mercy is an affront to the independence of the judiciary as conceived under the Constitution. There is yet a third issue whether the absence of regulations disables the President from exercising the power conferred upon him by article 72 of the Constitution. These are the core issues raised in this case. Background facts On the 29th of June, 2016 three people namely, Godwin Ako Gunn, Alistair Nelson and Salifu Maase alias Mugabe, uttered certain statements on a talk show broadcast on an Accra radio station known as Montie FM, 100.1 FM, which were believed to be contemptuous of the Supreme Court, inter alia. On the 5th of July, 2016, those people appeared before this Court on a summons issued b.....