THE REPUBLIC vs. BARIMA-AGYEKUM HINNEH, EX PARTE ATTORNEY GENERAL [2020]DLCA9349

Date	2020-05-27
Suit No.	SUIT NO.: H3/65/2020
Citation No.	[2020]DLCA9349

ANGELINA DOMAKYAAREH (MRS.) JA. (PRESIDING)

A. B. POKU-ACHEAMPONG JA.

SAMUEL K.A. ASIEDU JA.

MICHAEL BAAFI SSA FOR RESPONDENT.

CHARLES HAYIBOR FOR APPLICANT.

[2020]DLCA9349
																																						<div class="restriction-wrapper">
														<div class="container-lg">
															<div class="row">
																<div class="col-md-12 restricted-content">
																	<div class="restricted-content-img-wrapper">
																		<div class="lock-icon bounce-7">
																			<img class=""
																				src="https://www.dennislawgh.com/dl-assets/dl-images/lock-content.png"
																				alt="Subscription based content">
																		</div>
																	</div>
																	 
																		<a href="https://www.dennislawgh.com/login"
																		class="btn btn-primary btn-lg"
																		style="font-family: 'open sans'; text-transform: capitalize; border-radius: 8px"> 
																		Login to Read Full Case </a>
																	 
																	
																</div>
															</div>
														</div>
													</div>
													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>(APPLICANT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>BARIMA-AGYEKUM HINNEH, EX
PARTE ATTORNEY GENERAL<o:p></o:p>(RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,serif;
mso-fareast-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;">[COURT OF APPEAL, KUMASI]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

SUIT NO.: H3/65/2020&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &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:
27TH MAY, 2020<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>MICHAEL BAAFI SSA FOR RESPONDENT.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:
justify;line-height:115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">CHARLES HAYIBOR FOR APPLICANT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>ANGELINA DOMAKYAAREH (MRS.) JA. (PRESIDING),
A. B. POKU-ACHEAMPONG JA., SAMUEL K.A. ASIEDU JA.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
border-left:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;border-right:none;
padding:1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
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:0cm;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">RULING<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>S. K. A. ASIEDU, J.A.:<o:p></o:p>The
application before this court seeks an order for stay of proceedings in a
matter currently before the High Court, Sunyani, pending the final
determination of an appeal against the conviction of the applicant for contempt
of court. The applicant is a lawyer. He successfully prosecuted a case before
the High Court, Sunyani on behalf of one Richard Peprah against the Director
General, Ghana Prisons Service, the Attorney General and two others. The
defendants/respondents who lost the case at the High Court appealed the
decision to the Court of Appeal and, in the meantime, successfully applied for
a stay of execution of the judgment which was granted on terms.<o:p></o:p>The
order granting the stay of execution directed the defendants to pay the sum of
GH₵290,000.00
into Court by the 30th March 2018. The order further directed that
the sum of GH₵290,000.00
when paid shall be deposited in an interest yielding account by the Registrar
of the High Court. <o:p></o:p>The
defendants/respondents could not pay the sum by close of day on the 30th
March 2018 as ordered by the High Court. They therefore repeated the
application for stay of execution before the Court of Appeal. At the hearing of
the repeat application on the <a name="_Hlk41335842">24th July 2018</a>,
the applicant herein informed the Court of Appeal that an application for stay
of execution had already been granted by the High Court. Based on this
information the Court of Appeal dismissed the application. After this, the
respondents herein paid the sum of GH₵290,000.00
into court.<o:p></o:p>Subsequently,
the applicant and one Ernest Owusu Sekyere through the execution process of
garnishee, managed to get the sum of GH₵290,000.00
released to them by the Bank Manager of National Investment Bank where the
money had been deposited. In so doing the applicant represented to the High Court,
differently constituted, that “there was no order for stay of execution.”<o:p></o:p>It
is on the basis of the conduct of the applicant herein that he was cited and
eventually convicted for contempt by the High Court, Sunyani on the 4th
July 2019 and given 14 days by the learned trial judge to return the sum of GH₵290,000.00 to the
Registry of the High Court before sentence is passed.<o:p></o:p>Instead
of obeying the orders of the High Court, the convict applicant rather chose to
appeal the conviction and then filed for stay of proceedings before the High
Court which wasted no time in dismissing the said application. The applicant
has therefore repeated the application for stay of proceedings before us and
prays this court to stay proceedings pending the hearing of the appeal against
his conviction for contempt.<o:p></o:p>Not
less than five grounds of appeal have been raised in the notice of appeal. We
have read through the grounds of appeal stated in the notice of appeal and for
the reason that the appeal is yet to be heard, we do not want to prejudice the
outcome by commenting at length on the grounds filed by the applicant. <o:p></o:p>Nevertheless,
the applicant, being a lawyer and so an officer of the court owes it as a duty
to be very candid and truthful with the courts even in the garnishee
proceedings. For, to tell the court, differently constituted by a vacation
judge, that there was no order for stay of execution in the face of the order
for stay made</main>