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June 22, 2023
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
E. ANKAMAH JA
The antecedents to this appeal are very captivating and the same will be highlighted in order to appreciate the final decision of this Court. For purposes of simplification, the Plaintiff/Appellant shall simply be referred to as 'the Appellant' and the Defendant/Respondent shall simply be referred to as the 'Respondent'.
The Appellant was a Circuit Court judge until he was formally removed from office by Her Ladyship the Chief Justice in a letter dated 7 th December, 2015. This was a result of a Disciplinary Committee inquiry by the Judicial Service to ascertain allegations of bribery and misconduct levelled against the Appellant in a petition by Tigereye P.I. represented by Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
According to the Appellant on 4 th September, 2015, he received a query letter titled ' Allegation of Bribery ' from the Judicial Secretary requesting the Appellant to answer to those allegations against him by Tigereye P.I. during his tenure as a Circuit Court judge. These allegations were that the Appellant as a Circuit Court judge presiding over the criminal case of Republic Vrs Kwaku Boakye was given an amount of Ghc500 and Ghc400 on various occasions in his chambers and at his private residence in Kumasi to influence him to acquit and discharge the Accused person, i.e., Kwaku Boakye. It was also alleged that the Appellant did indeed acquit and discharge the accused person as agreed upon.
The query letter contained an invitation for the Appellant to appear before a factfinding Committee established by the Judicial Service to inquire into those allegations. While the Appellant was yet to respond to the query letter, he received another letter from the Judicial Secretary dated 4 th September, 2015 with the heading ' SUSPENSION FROM DUTY' in which the Appellant was suspended from duty. In the said letter of suspension,
it was stated that the decision was arrived at after ' Management has considered your response, and finds it necessary to do so'. It is to be reiterated that the Appellant by then had not submitted any response to the query letter he received on 4 th September, 2015.
In a response letter dated 8 th September, 2015, the Appellant denied the issues in the query letter. In the Appellant's response, he stated that the Accused person was convicted of stealing and sentenced to prison custody for one year. He submitted to the Disciplinary Committee copies of the charge sheet, the judgment and the commitment warrant in Republic Vrs. Kwaku
AI Generated Summary
Justice E. Ankamah JA authored this Court of Appeal decision allowing the appeal of a former Circuit Court judge who challenged his 2015 removal after a Judicial Service Disciplinary Committee inquiry initiated by Tigereye P.I., represented by Anas Aremeyaw Anas. The petition alleged he accepted GH2500 and GH2400 to acquit and discharge the accused in Republic v Kwaku Boakye. The Appellant denied wrongdoing, submitted certified case records evidencing conviction and a one-year sentence, and objected that the Committee relied on edited, inaudible videos and later introduced an ex parte communication allegation without identifying any pending case. The High Court dismissed his claims. On appeal, the Court applied the rehearing standard, relied on Respondent admissions and undisputed documents, drew adverse inferences from Respondents failure to tender the videos or call their maker, found ex parte communication unproven, set aside the High Courts judgment, and entered judgment for the Appellant per his reliefs.