Accra: A High Court in Accra has ruled that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) lacks the authority to prosecute cases, effectively stripping it of its prosecutorial powers. The court has directed the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, to assume control of all cases currently managed by the OSP until proper prosecutorial authorisation is granted.
According to Ghana Web, this ruling follows a legal challenge initiated by the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Justice Srem Sai, who filed arguments with the Supreme Court. The Deputy AG sought to have Section 4(2) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) declared unconstitutional, arguing that it is inconsistent with the Constitution. This section requires the Attorney General to grant authorisation to the Special Prosecutor to initiate and conduct prosecutions of corruption and related offences.
The Deputy AG's submission highlighted that since 2018, the OSP has been conducting investigations and prosecutions without the required authorisation from the Attorney General. The Attorney General, defending his exclusive prosecutorial powers under Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution, maintains that state prosecutions necessitate his authorisation, which cannot be overridden by ordinary legislation from Parliament.
Justice Srem Sai contended that while the Attorney General may authorise natural persons to prosecute, the same does not apply to non-natural persons, as outlined in the OSP Act. The Attorney General will also seek Supreme Court declarations stating that Parliament has overstepped its powers by varying his constitutional prosecutorial authority through ordinary legislation.
The summary of the Attorney General's arguments includes the assertion that the prosecutorial powers of the Republic are vested solely in the Attorney General. The Office of the Special Prosecutor Act is argued to compel the Attorney General to authorise the OSP to prosecute offences, which the AG claims is an overreach of parliamentary authority. The Attorney General insists that prosecutorial powers cannot be delegated to a juridical person and that Parliament cannot alter his prosecutorial powers through ordinary legislation.