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May 19, 1980
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
JUDGMENT OF EDWARD WIREDU J.
This is an application brought under the Court of Appeal Rules, 1962 (L.I. 218), s. 10 (4) as amended by the Court of Appeal (Amendment) Rules, 1969 (L.I. 618), for an extension of time within which to appeal against the findings of the Opare-Addo Committee of Inquiry into labour unrests at the breweries, i.e. Tata Brewery Limited, Kumasi Brewery Limited, Accra Brewery Limited and Guinness (Ghana) Limited. The said committee was established under the Committee of Inquiry (Labour Unrest at the Breweries) Instrument, 1979 (E.I. 30).
The facts leading to the presentation of this application may be briefly stated as follows: On or about 2 May 1979, the erstwhile Supreme Military Council appointed a committee of inquiry into the circumstances leading to labour unrests in the country's four breweries. This committee is what has come to be commonly referred to as the Opare-Addo Committee of Inquiry. The sole member of this committee was Mr. Opare-Addo, then a circuit court judge but now retired. Section 3 of E.I. 30 of 1979 provides:
"3. The terms of reference of the Committee shall be as follows:—
(a) to investigate any complaints made by the managements of Tata Brewery Limited, Kumasi Brewery Limited, Accra Brewery Limited and Guinness (Ghana) Limited against their respective employees not to return to work after the recent strike;
(b) to investigate any complaints made by such employees against the decision of their employers;
(c) to state in respect of each such employee whether having regard to the evidence before the Committee and the conduct of such employee in connection with the said strike as approved before the Committee, the refusal by his employer to re-engage such employee was justified;
(d) to submit its findings to the Commissioner responsible for Labour giving reasons for such findings and making such recommendations as it considers necessary."
The facts before the court show that the committee's report and the Government's White Paper on it were published on or about [p.492] 16 November 1979. It appears that all the findings and recommendations of the committee were accepted by the government.
The applicants herein are 29 ex-employees of the respondents who claim that they had been dismissed because of adverse findings made by the committee against them. Their complaint is that:
"4. That we made persistent attempts to have the committee publish its findings but we failed until some time in November 1979,
AI Generated Summary
Edward Wiredu J. addressed an application by twenty-nine former employees of Tata Brewery Limited, Kumasi Brewery Limited, Accra Brewery Limited, and Guinness (Ghana) Limited for enlargement of time to appeal adverse findings of the Opare-Addo Committee of Inquiry constituted under E.I. 30. Applicants counsel, Mr. De Paul, attributed the delay to difficulty obtaining the committees report and the Government White Paper. The respondents, through Mr. Boafo, argued that neither E.I. 30 nor its enabling enactment provided for appeals, that only commissions of inquiry enjoy appeal rights under the 1979 Constitution, and that the sole member lacked article 196(3) qualifications. The court held that, by article 213(1) and transitional section 11, a committee is included within a commission of inquiry and pre-Constitution committees have the same effect, so an appeal lies under article 198(2). Applying L.I. 218 r. 10(4), the court found the filing timely and granted 30 days to lodge the appeal.