IN RE BOTWE & MENSAH [1959]DLHC5522

Date	1959-12-22
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1959]DLHC5522

OLLENNU J.

DR. J. B. DANQUAH FOR APPLICANTS.

BING. Q.C. ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR RESPONDENTS.

[1959]DLHC5522
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >IN RE
BOTWE &amp; MENSAH<o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>[1959]
GLR 457&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Date: 22ND DECEMBER, 1959.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:31.0pt 31.0pt 1.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">

</div>COUNSEL<o:p></o:p>DR. J. B.
DANQUAH FOR APPLICANTS.<o:p></o:p>BING.
Q.C., ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR RESPONDENTS.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:31.0pt 31.0pt 1.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF OLLENNU J.<o:p></o:p>(His
Lordship set out the facts, and continued:—)<o:p></o:p>Among the
conditions precedent for the issue of Mandamus are the four set out in
paragraph 7 of the statement of the applicants in support of their affidavit,
namely:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">(i) there must be a legal right
to be enforced, the purpose of which cannot be enforced by any otherlegal
remedy equally convenient, beneficial and appropriate;<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">(ii) there must have been a
distinct demand and refusal to do the act;<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">(iii) the duty to be performed
must be some public or quasi-public legal duty; and<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">(iv) it must appear that the
order would be effective.<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">The arrests made by Police in
pursuance of the complaints of the applicants were admittedly without warrant,
and therefore the provisions of sections 16 and 17 of the Criminal Procedure
Code apply:<o:p></o:p>(1)
sub-section 1 of section 16 requires that where a person is so arrested the
police officer in charge of the police station to which he is taken should
enquire into the case, and if upon completion of the enquiry there is no
sufficient reason to believe that he has committed any offence such person
should be released forthwith;<o:p></o:p>(2)
sub-section 2 provides that if the person so arrested has committed a crime,
then he should either be taken before a Magistrate’s Court on a charge within
twenty-four hours, or be granted bail to appear before such Court on a charge;<o:p></o:p>(3)
sub-section 3 reads:-<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“If, on a
person being so taken into custody as aforesaid, it appears to the officer
aforesaid that the enquiry into the case cannot be completed forthwith, he may
release the said person on his entering into a bond, with or without sureties
for a reasonable amount, to appear at such police station and at such times as
are named in the bond, unless he previously receives notice in writing from the
officer of police in charge of that police station that his attendance is not
required, and any such bond may be enforced as if it were a bond conditional
for the appearance of the said person before a Magistrate’s Court for the place
in which the police station named in the bond is situate;”<o:p></o:p>(4)
section 17 reads as follows:-<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“Officers
in charge of police stations shall report to the nearest Magistrate the cases
of all persons arrested without warrant within the limits of their respective
stations whether such persons have been admitted to bail or not.”<o:p></o:p>