The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its ruling on Friday, August 21, 2026, on a case challenging the decision by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie to allow selected High Court judges to continue hearing certain criminal cases during the legal vacation.
The case was filed by Ofoase-Ayirebi Member of Parliament, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who is questioning the constitutionality of administrative warrants issued by the Chief Justice for the continuation of the proceedings.
At Thursday’s sitting, counsel for the MP, Frank Davies, maintained that the Chief Justice should have separate legal representation instead of being represented by the Attorney General.
He argued that the Attorney General’s involvement raises concerns about the constitutional separation of powers because the Attorney General is part of the Executive while the Chief Justice heads the Judiciary.
The Supreme Court had previously rejected the objection concerning the Attorney General’s representation of the Chief Justice.
Mr Davies said, however, that his legal team would abide by the court’s decision and concentrate on the main constitutional issues raised in the case.
At the centre of the challenge is whether continuing criminal trials during the legal vacation could undermine the constitutional rights of accused persons, particularly their right to a fair trial and legal representation by lawyers of their choice.
The lawyer stressed that his client was not seeking to stop the criminal cases from being heard. Rather, he argued that the proceedings should not continue where defence lawyers had indicated that they were unavailable during the vacation.
According to him, the established practice has been for criminal trials to continue during the legal vacation only when the lawyers involved agree and the judge obtains the necessary warrant from the Chief Justice.
Mr Davies also questioned why only selected criminal cases had been allowed to proceed while other cases before the same courts were not treated similarly.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday is expected to clarify the legal basis for the Chief Justice’s directives and the extent to which criminal proceedings can continue during the legal vacation.
