THE REPUBLIC vs. DSP. GEORGE ASARE {RESPONDENT} EX PARTE: IBRAHIM JAJAH {APPLICANT} [2019]DLHC6824

THE REPUBLIC vs. DSP. GEORGE ASARE {RESPONDENT} EX PARTE: IBRAHIM JAJAH {APPLICA... [2019]DLHC6824

Date	2019-06-20
Suit No.	SUIT NO: CR/178/2019
Citation No.	[2019]DLHC6824

HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE KWEKU T. ACKAAH-BOAFO

MR. KWAME FOSU-GYEABOUR FOR THE APPLICANT -PRESENT

MR. ALFRED PAAPA DARKWAH FOR THE RESPONDENT – PRESENT

[2019]DLHC6824
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>DSP. GEORGE ASARE {RESPONDENT}
EX PARTE:
IBRAHIM JAJAH {APPLICANT}<o:p></o:p>[HIGH
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">

SUIT NO: CR/178/2019&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &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: 20TH JUNE, 2019<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>MR.
KWAME FOSU-GYEABOUR FOR THE APPLICANT -PRESENT<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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MR.
ALFRED PAAPA DARKWAH FOR THE RESPONDENT – PRESENT<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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HIS
LORDSHIP JUSTICE KWEKU T. ACKAAH-BOAFO<o:p></o:p>

</div>JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center;line-height:115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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FOR COMMITTAL<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>&nbsp;[1]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Contempt of Court is the mechanism which the law provides for
the protection of the authority of the court from improper interference.
Contempt arises in many ways but includes a breach of a court order, an attempt
to obstruct the administration of justice, a deliberate attack upon the
integrity of a court or a judge that interferes with proceedings, or some other
form of conduct not foreseeable. Contempt of court is part of a court's
inherent jurisdiction and, as it is not precisely prescribed or enacted, should
be exercised with scrupulous care and only when the circumstances are clear and
beyond reasonable doubt.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>[2]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The power of the High Court to punish
for contempt is provided in Articles
19(12) and 126 of the 1992 Republican Constitution of Ghana, and re-enacted
in S 36 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459)
as amended; S10 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and Order 50 of the High Court (Civil
Procedure) Rules, 2004 (CI 47).&nbsp; Order
50 of CI 47 sets the parameters by which an Applicant may move the court for an
order for an attachment for contempt of court.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>[3]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There
is no codified legislation in Ghana that defines the act or omission that
constitute the offence of contempt unlike the United Kingdom
Contempt of Court Act<a href="file:///F:/ackaa%20boafo%20RULLING/JUDGMENT/New%20folder%20(3)/THE%20REPUBLIC%20VS%20DSP.%20GEORGE%20ASARE%20%20EX%20PARTE%20IBRAHIM%20JAJAH.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">[1]</a>. Ghanaian courts therefore resort to
case law to resolve any issue regarding contempt when confronted with one.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>[4]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A succinct and frequently quoted
definition of contempt is found in R
v SITO I; EX PARTE FORDJOUR<a href="file:///F:/ackaa%20boafo%20RULLING/JUDGMENT/New%20folder%20(3)/THE%20REPUBLIC%20VS%20DSP.%20GEORGE%20ASARE%20%20EX%20PARTE%20IBRAHIM%20JAJAH.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title="">[2]</a>,
where the Supreme Court offered the following as constituting the offence of
contempt:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;
text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">a)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
there should have been a judgment or order
which required the contemnor to do or abstain from doing something;<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;
text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">