[2024]DLSC17473 • February 28, 2024 • Supreme Court •
THE REPUBLIC vs. THE HIGH COURT, ACCRA (GENERAL JURISDICTION 11) EX PARTE: ANAS AREMEYAW ANAS KENNEDY OHENE AGYAPONG
The applicant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, an internationally acclaimed investigative journalist and lawyer, sued the Interested Party, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, for defamation in the High Court, Accra. The suit was initially heard by Justice Daniel Mensah but was later transferred to Justice Eric Baah J.A., sitting as an additional High Court Judge, following a directive from the Chief Justice. The trial judge dismissed the applicant's claims on 15 March 2023. The applicant then filed an application invoking the Supreme Court's supervisory jurisdiction to quash the High Court judgment on grounds of lack of jurisdiction and apparent bias by the trial judge.
read moreRULING ASIEDU JSC: [1]. INTRODUCTION My lords, the instant application seeks to invoke the supervisory jurisdiction of this court under Article 132 of the Constitution, 1992, section 5 of the Courts Act, 1993 Act 459 and rule 61 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1996, CI.16, for an “order of certiorari directed at the High Court (General Jurisdiction 11), Accra, to bring into this honourable court for the purpose of being quashed, the judgment of the High Court dated the 15th March 2023. The application is premised on basically two main grounds: (1). Absence of jurisdiction and, (2) Apparent or real likelihood of bias and impartiality on the part of the judge. The application is supported by a twenty-six-paragraph affidavit. It is also opposed by an eighteen-paragraph affidavit filed by the Interested Party. [2]. FACTS The applicant in this matter issued a writ of summons against the Interested Party (hereinafter referred to as the Defendant) in the High Court, Accra on the 20th .....