THE REPUBLIC vs CIRCUIT COURT – ACCRA AND ATTORNEY GENERAL EX-PARTE: KUDJO ANKU, DAVID FAMEYE AND DAVID OSEI-MANU [2014]DLHC16449

THE REPUBLIC vs CIRCUIT COURT – ACCRA AND ATTORNEY GENERAL EX-PARTE: KUDJO ANKU,... [2014]DLHC16449

Date	2014-07-09
Suit No.	SUIT NO. HRCM 145/13
Citation No.	[2014]DLHC16449

HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE KOFI ESSEL MENSAH

CHARLES BENTUM

REXFORD WIREDU

ATTA AKYEA

[2014]DLHC16449
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >THE
REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;CIRCUIT
COURT – ACCRA AND ATTORNEY GENERAL EX-PARTE: KUDJO ANKU, DAVID FAMEYE AND DAVID
OSEI-MANU<o:p></o:p>INTERESTED
PARTY:&nbsp; DANIEL GIBSON DANSO<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;(RESPONDENT/APPLICANTS)<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[HIGH COURT
OF JUSTICE (HUMAN RIGHTS DIVISION) HELD IN ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>&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;">

SUITNO. HRCM 145/13&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:9TH
JULY, 2014<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>CHARLES BENTUM FOR APPLICANTS.<o:p></o:p>REXFORD WIREDU FOR RESPONDENTS.<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;">

</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;">

</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;">

JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>&nbsp;The applicants are directors of INTECELL
INVESTMENTS LTD., a company engaged in the business of money lending disguised
as microfinance company.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;They took loans from certain persons including the
interested party herein to run their business.&nbsp;
Unable to pay the loans, the interested party and other creditors in
Suit No. 144/3 lodged a complaint in crime against them.&nbsp; Consequently, they have been charged with the
offence of defrauding by false pretences.&nbsp;
They have brought the instant application to question the procedural
fairness and the lawfulness in preferring criminal charges against them; and in
prosecuting them in the criminal court in respect of a transaction which is
purely contractual and ought to be handled in the Civil Court.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;Procedural fairness, which is an attribute of fair
trial, is inherent in the rule of law, and it is recognized and guaranteed in
democratic societies including this country.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;In a democratic country, the right to fair
administration of justice is very paramount.&nbsp;
Procedural fairness demands that criminal charges and civil rights and
obligations are kept within clearly defined limits.&nbsp; Thus on no account should a person be tried
and or punished over a matter which is purely civil or contractual.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;To preserve, protect and safeguard this basic
right, the International Covenant on Civil&nbsp;
and Political Rights provides in Article 11 as follows:<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “No
one shall be imprisoned merely on the grounds of his inability to fulfill<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;a
contractual obligation.” <o:p></o:p>&nbsp;This human rights provision which re-enforces the
basic human rights norm, that no person shall be prosecuted in a criminal court
over a matter which is purely civil, is applicable in Ghana because Ghana has
ratified the convention. Thus the convention, by Article 33 (5) of our
Constitution, is part of our human rights provisions as enshrined in chapter
five of the Constitution 1992.&nbsp; It is
provided by article 33 (5) that:<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “33(5)&nbsp; The rights, duties, declarations and guarantees
relating to the<o:p></o:p>fundamental human
rights and freedoms specifically mentioned in this<o:p></o:p>