[2018]DLSC479 • May 30, 2018 • Supreme Court •
ERIC ASANTE vs. THE REPUBLIC
The applicant, Eric Asante, was convicted of defilement by the High Court on September 5, 2005. His appeal to the Court of Appeal was unsuccessful. However, the Supreme Court allowed his appeal on January 26, 2017, acquitting him. The applicant had been arrested on November 14, 2003, and remained in custody until his acquittal in 2017, totaling over 13 years of detention. He subsequently applied for compensation under Articles 14(5) and 147 of the Constitution, claiming compensation for unlawful detention and wrongful conviction.
read moreRULING GBADEGBE JSC: We have before us in the exercise of our jurisdiction under article 14 (7) of the Constitution a claim by the applicant herein for compensation. Article 14(7) provides: “Where a person who has served the whole or a part of his sentence is acquitted on appeal by a court, other than the Supreme Court, the court may certify to the Supreme Court that the person acquitted be paid compensation; and the Supreme Court may, upon examination of all the facts and the certificate of the court concerned, award such compensation as it may think fit; or where the acquittal is by the Supreme Court, it may order compensation to be paid to the person acquitted.” The background to the matter herein may be set out shortly as follows. The applicant was convicted on a charge of defilement by the High Court on September 05, 2005. His appeal to the Court of Appeal was unsuccessful but a further appeal to this court was allowed in an unreported judgment dated...