Martin Amidu has criticised the rush to conclude the Supreme Court’s July 29 decision on the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) before the full judgment was available.
The former Attorney-General and Special Prosecutor said early media reports did not provide enough detail to establish exactly what the Court had decided.
He therefore urged the public to wait for the certified judgment, stressing that the key constitutional issue was whether the OSP remained an independent prosecutorial body or was subject to the Attorney-General’s control.
“The availability of the Supreme Court judgment in Adamtey v Attorney-General lays to rest the subtle impression created in the public mind in the media that the OSP is subject to the unbridled control and direction of the Attorney-General in the initiation and prosecution of corruption and corruption-related offences,” he wrote in an open letter.
After receiving the judgment on August 8 and reviewing it several times, Amidu concluded that the Supreme Court had upheld Act 959 in its entirety.
He said the episode highlights the need to distinguish media reports and hearsay from the actual reasoning and wording of court judgments, particularly in important constitutional cases.
