GHANA INDEPENDENT BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION vs. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS TRIBUNAL NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY [2018]DLECT4613

GHANA INDEPENDENT BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION vs. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS TRIBUN... [2018]DLECT4613

Date	2018-06-18
Suit No.	APPEAL NO: ECT/APP/002/2017
Citation No.	[2018]DLECT4613

JUSTICE DATE-BAH (PRESIDING)

PROFESSOR QUAYNOR

MR AKPADZI

KWAKU OWUSU-AGYEMANG FOR THE APPELLANTS

GOLDA DENYO FOR THE RESPONDENT

[2018]DLECT4613
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >GHANA INDEPENDENT
BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION<o:p></o:p>(APPELLANTS/APPLICANTS)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>ELECTRONIC
COMMUNICATIONS TRIBUNAL NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY<o:p></o:p>(RESPONDENT/RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p>(ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS TRIBUNAL)<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">

APPEAL NO: ECT/APP/002/2017&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: 18TH JUNE 2018<o:p></o:p>

GOLDA
DENYO FOR THE RESPONDENT <o:p></o:p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%;
border:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in">DECISION<o:p></o:p>

</div>PROF. DATE-BAH JSC (RETIRED): <o:p></o:p>This
is the final decision of the Electronic Communications <o:p></o:p>Tribunal
established by the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) in this case.
It is the first such decision since the establishment of the Tribunal and it
has been arrived at unanimously. Section 91 of the Act vests in this Tribunal
jurisdiction to hear appeals from a person affected by a decision of the
National Communications Authority ("NCA") or the Dispute Resolution
Committees. Accordingly, this Tribunal has statutory authority to apply the
principles of administrative law to decisions of the NCA and its Dispute Resolution
Committees. <o:p></o:p>INTRODUCTION <o:p></o:p>The
principles of administrative law in Ghana are based on the common law and the
1992 <o:p></o:p>Constitution.
As regards the common law principles, the following passage from De Smith, Woolf
&amp; Jowell's Principles of Judicial Review (1999) provides an insight into
the principles that this Tribunal will be applying: <o:p></o:p>"In
all developed legal systems there has been recognition of a fundamental
requirement for principles to govern the exercise by public authorities of
their powers. These principles provide a basic protection for individuals and prevent
those exercising public functions from abusing their powers to the disadvantage
of the public. During the last quarter of the twentieth century, the
circumstances in which the courts have been prepared to intervene to provide
relief for unlawful administrative action have expanded in spectacular fashion.
Coherent principles have steadily evolved in a number of areas of
administrative law and disfiguring archaisms have been removed." <o:p></o:p>Article
23 of the 1992 Constitution provides as follows: <o:p></o:p>"Administrative bodies and
administrative officials shall act fairly and reasonably and comply with the
requirements imposed on them by law and persons aggrieved by the exercise of
such acts and decisions shall have the right to seek redress before a court or
other tribunal." <o:p></o:p>Construing
this provision in Awuni v WAEC [2003-2004] SCGLR 471, I, when serving on the <o:p></o:p>Supreme
Court, said (at p. 559): <o:p></o:p>"It
appears to me that the purpose of article 23 is to provide a constitutional foundation
for administrative law in Ghana and to entrench entitlement to administrative
justice as a fundamental human right in Ghana. Under the English common law,
from which the Ghanaian common law has borrowed most, an important part of
administrative law is the judicial control of administrative action. <o:p></o:p>This
is because administrative power is quintessentially derived power. It is the power
of public officials derived from the Constitution or from statutes. <o:p></o:p>The
common law courts have, therefore, seen it as their role to ensure that these
public officials, and the bodies to which they belong, keep within their
authority or jurisdiction." <o:p></o:p>Accordingly,
this Tribunal, when exercising its jurisdiction under the Electronic <o:p></o:p>Communications
Act, 2008, will apply the principles of administrative justice like a court, although
it has more procedural flexibility than the High Court. <o:p></o:p>The
Tribunal will also be guided by the matters set out in section 5 of the
National <o:p></o:p>Communications
Authority Act, 2008 (Act 769), including the principles of transparency,
accountability, proportionality, consistency and best regulatory practice. <o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>T</main>