REPUBLIC vs. SPECIAL TRIBUNAL; EX PARTE AKOSAH [1980]DLCA11570

Date	1980-05-15
Suit No.	[1980] GLR 592-608
Citation No.	[1980]DLCA11570

ANIN J.A

EDUSEI J.A.

EDWARD WIREDU J

NANA AKUFO-ADDO (WITH HIM DR. PREMPEH AND J.A. GLOVER) FOR THE APPELLANT.

J.E.K. APPIAH PRINCIPAL STATE ATTORNEY (WITH HIM B. AKWETEY

ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY AND NAVAL-LT. ASSASSIE-GYIMAH) FOR THE RESPONDENT

[1980]DLCA11570
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 REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>
 vs.<o:p></o:p>
 SPECIAL TRIBUNAL; EX
 PARTE AKOSAH<o:p></o:p>
 [COURT OF APPEAL,
 ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>
 <div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
 [1980]
 GLR&nbsp; 592-608&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;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;DATE:&nbsp;15 MAY, 1980<o:p></o:p>
 </div>
 COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
 <div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
 NANA
 AKUFO-ADDO (WITH HIM DR. PREMPEH AND J.A. GLOVER) FOR THE APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p>
 J.E.K.
 APPIAH, PRINCIPAL STATE ATTORNEY (WITH HIM B.&nbsp; AKWETEY, ASSISTANT STATE
 ATTORNEY AND NAVAL-LT.&nbsp; ASSASSIE-GYIMAH) FOR THE RESPONDENT<o:p></o:p>
 </div>
 CORAM:<o:p></o:p>
 <div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
 ANIN J.A, &nbsp;EDUSEI J.A., EDWARD WIREDU J<o:p></o:p>
 </div>
 &nbsp;
 <div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
 &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;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; JUDGMENT&nbsp;
 <o:p></o:p>
 </div>
 ANIN J.A.<o:p></o:p>
 Anin J.A. delivered the judgment of the
 court.&nbsp; On 21 February 1980, the appellant filed in the Accra High Court
 a motion ex parte for leave to apply for an order of certiorari to quash the
 conviction and sentence of three years' penal labour and order of confiscation
 of his nineteen vehicles entered and passed against him by the respondent
 tribunal in its judgment dated 4 February 1980, in a case intituled Republic
 v. James Clifford Akosah Jnr.<o:p></o:p>
 Grounds of Certiorari Application<o:p></o:p>
 The grounds of the application were fully set out
 in the accompanying statement and affidavit verifying the facts relied
 on.&nbsp; Briefly stated, it was contended that the respondent tribunal acted
 without jurisdiction and in breach of the rules of natural justice and that
 its procedure was contrary to the due process of law.<o:p></o:p>
 More particularly, it was first submitted that
 the special tribunal was an inferior tribunal with a limited jurisdiction
 defined by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (Special Tribunal and Other
 Matters) Decree, 1979 (A.F.R.C.D. 23). Section 3 (1) (a) of this Decree
 empowered it:<o:p></o:p>
 "to take over and complete the trial of all
 cases pending before all the special courts immediately before the coming
 into force of the Constitution of the Third Republic of Ghana in respect of
 all the offences charged or which could have been charged. . . "<o:p></o:p>
 The applicant disclosed that there was no trial
 of any case involving either himself or his company (Akosah Agencies Co.,
 Ltd.) pending on the stated date, i.e. the eve of 24 September 1979 either
 before any special court or the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.&nbsp;
 However, the respondent tribunal purported to try, convict and sentence him
 for matters already investigated by the Archer Committee of Inquiry into the
 Affairs of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board, whose findings had already been
 accepted by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council in a white paper.<o:p></o:p>
 With respect to the applicant's cocoa-buying
 agency and twelve other named buying agencies, paragraph 31 of the said white
 paper ruled:<o:p></o:p>
 “All local agents of foreign purchasers of cocoa
 resident or operating in or from Ghana are requested to repatriate all their
 commissions in foreig</main>