Eskwai logo
Verify now as a student, judge or newly called lawyer for access to discounted plans.

REPUBLIC v. COURT OF APPEAL AND OTHERS; EX PARTE AGYEKUM

March 29, 1983

SUPREME COURT

GHANA

CORAM

  • APALOO C.J. SOWAH
  • ADADE
  • TAYLOR JJ.S.C.
  • FRANCOIS J.A

Areas of Law

  • Constitutional Law
  • Administrative Law
  • Property and Real Estate Law
  • Civil Procedure

AI Generated Summary

Apaloo C.J., delivering the judgment of the Supreme Court, dismissed an application by an Amia stool subject seeking certiorari and prohibition to undo Court of Appeal orders that referred boundary determination to the Stool Lands Boundaries Settlement Commissioner under N.R.C.D. 172 in a dispute with an Ochiso stool subject. The court held the commissioner is a permanent adjudicating authority preserved by existing law and not an ad hoc commission limited by section 10 of the 1979 Constitution’s transitional provisions. While part of the executive, the commissioner lacks enforcement power and therefore does not exercise “judicial power” in the constitutional sense; section 9(3)’s finality clause cannot oust the Supreme Court’s supervisory jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal’s referral was lawful, and prohibition would not lie. Taylor J.S.C. concurred, elaborating on the limits of ouster clauses and noting post‑1979 constitutional constraints on “exclusive” jurisdiction.

JUDGEMENT