Power to prosecute responsibility of AG — Lawyer

The Eastern Regional Legal Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Isaac Minta Larbi, has stated that until Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution is amended, the power to prosecute is reserved for the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.

“Article 88 (2, 3, and 4) is very clear and does not admit of any ambiguity whatsoever. Unfortunately, it looks as if Parliament, during the passage of the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) Act, tried to create an autonomous entity from the AG, which could engage in direct prosecutions without recourse to the AG.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Larbi said that intent could not be achieved through the passage of an Act of Parliament.

He said the recent brouhaha surrounding the ruling of the High Court was unwarranted, and the attempt by the Minority to stoke more fire was unacceptable.

Education

He said times like this call for education, so the general public would get to learn the law and understand how it worked.

Mr Larbi, therefore, urged the minority to stop pushing the agenda to malign the courts and rather focus on their Parliamentary duties.

He explained that many institutions in the country derived their prosecutory powers directly from the AG, and it was the AG that permitted them to undertake such prosecutions.

“The Ghana Police Service, SSNIT, EOCO and many other institutions obtain a fiat from the AG before they undertake prosecutions,” he stressed.

Mr Larbi stressed that until Article 88 was amended, every entity or individual who intended to prosecute in the country would have to seek the express permission of the AG before they could do so, adding that “it is, therefore, within the power of the High Court to declare that the OSP has no such independent power to engage in prosecutions in Ghana.”

Application

“This is especially so when such a declaration was made in a quo warranto application filed before it, challenging the power of the OSP to engage in prosecutions.

Quo warranto, in simple terms, is an application to the High Court asking the court to determine whether an individual or an entity has legitimate power to engage in a particular conduct or undertake some public duties,” he explained.

Mr Larbi said when such an application was filed, “it is the duty of the Court to make the necessary orders and declarations to settle the dispute as to whether the individual or entity has legitimate power or not and where the court finds that no such legitimate power exists, the court has the power and authority to proceed to say so in its decision.”

He said it was, therefore, unacceptable for the Minority to state that the High Court judge had no such power to say so.

Democracy

He said it was important that while the country went through the democratic dispensation, “we try to avoid the politicisation of constitutional matters that are meant for the courts”.

Mr Larbi noted that Parliament was an arm of government, and it must not be seen to be intermeddling in the affairs of the Court, which was a separate arm of government.

“I will respectfully ask our Minority MPs to concentrate on their Parliamentary duties and leave constitutional matters to the courts to address them for the benefit of Ghanaians,” he stated.