MARTIN KPEBU vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL [2015]DLSC3031

Date	2015-12-01
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL NO. J1/7/2015
Citation No.	[2015]DLSC3031

WOOD CJ (MRS) PRESIDING

ADINYIRA (MRS) JSC

DOTSE JSC

YEBOAH JSC

GBADEGBE JSC

BENIN JSC

AKAMBA JSC

MR. MARTIN KPEBU ESQ. FOR HIMSELF.

WILLIAM KPOBI ESQ. CHIEF STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENDANT

[2015]DLSC3031
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >MARTIN KPEBU<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>ATTORNEY-GENERAL<o:p></o:p>[SUPREME COURT, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

CIVIL APPEAL NO. J1/7/2015&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: 1ST
DECEMBER, 2015<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>MR.
MARTIN KPEBU ESQ. FOR HIMSELF.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

WILLIAM
KPOBI ESQ. CHIEF STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENDANT<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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WOOD CJ (MRS) PRESIDING, ADINYIRA (MRS) JSC, DOTSE
JSC, YEBOAH JSC, GBADEGBE JSC, BENIN JSC, AND AKAMBA JSC<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

JUDGEMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>DOTSE
JSC: <o:p></o:p>This
writ, is at the instance of the Plaintiff, a private Legal Practitioner and
filed pursuant to article 2 (1) and 130 of the Constitution 1992 seeking the
following relief:-<o:p></o:p>“On a true
and proper interpretation of article 19 (11) and article 14 of the Constitution
of Ghana 1992, section 104 (4) of the Criminal and other Offences (Procedure)
Act, 1960 (Act 30), is inconsistent with the said articles and therefore
unconstitutional.”<o:p></o:p>CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS RELIED UPON<o:p></o:p>At
this stage, I think it is pertinent to consider the constitutional and
statutory provisions that are germane to this action.<o:p></o:p>Article
19 (11) of the Constitution 1992 provides as follows:-<o:p></o:p>“No person
shall be convicted of a criminal offence unless the offence is defined and the
penalty for it is prescribed in a written law.”<o:p></o:p>Article
14 (1) of the Constitution 1992 also provides thus:<o:p></o:p>(1)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
“Every person shall be entitled to his personal
liberty and no person shall be deprived of his personal liberty except in the
following cases and in accordance with procedure permitted by law-&nbsp;<o:p></o:p> 
(a)&nbsp; in execution of a sentence or order of a court in respect of a
criminal offence of which he has been convicted; or<o:p></o:p> 
(b)&nbsp; in execution of an order of a
court punishing him for contempt of court; or 
(c)&nbsp; for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of an
order of a court; or 
(d)&nbsp;&nbsp; in the case of a person suffering from an infectious or
contagious disease, a person of unsound mind, a person addicted to drugs or
alcohol or a vagrant, for the purpose of his care or treatment or the
protection of the community; or 
(e)&nbsp;&nbsp; for the purpose of the education or welfare of a person who has
not attained the age of eighteen years; or 
(f)&nbsp;&nbsp; for the purpose of preventing the unlawful entry of that person
into Ghana, or of effecting the expulsion, extradition or other lawful removal
of that person from Ghana or for the purpose of restricting that person while
he is being lawfully conveyed through Ghana in the course of his extradition or
removal from one country to another; or 
(g)&nbsp;upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed or being about to
commit a criminal offence under the laws of Ghana.”<o:p></o:p>STATUTORY
PROVISIONS IN ACT 30<o:p></o:p>Section
104 of the Criminal and Other offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 Act 30 also
provides as follows:<o:</main>