2025
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Supreme Court, by a 4-1 majority per Amadu JSC, granted certiorari to quash a 16 January 2020 High Court warrant that directed the perpetual arrest of journalist Kevin Ekow Taylor for alleged contempt arising from an online video. The Court held that contempt powers, though vital, must be exercised within the bounds of natural justice and due process. Because the trial judge ordered Taylor’s arrest without first issuing a summons to appear and without affording him any opportunity to be heard, the High Court acted without jurisdiction, breached Article 19 fair-trial guarantees, and produced a void order. The majority further ruled that the applicant’s delay beyond the 90-day limit could not shield a patently null order from review. Justice Gaewu dissented, insisting that the inordinate delay and the discretionary nature of certiorari should have led to dismissal. No other judges wrote separate opinions, but three joined the majority without comment.
<u>MAJORITY OPINION</u>
<u>TANKO AMADU JSC:</u>
<u>INTRODUCTION</u>
PROLOGUE
"There cannot be anything of greater consequence than to keep the streams of justice clear and pure, that parties may proceed with safety both to themselves and their characters.” Per Lord Hardwicke in The St. James’ Evening Post Case (1742) 2 Atkins 469 at 472.
(1) On the 22nd day of July, 2025 this court, by majority decision granted the Applicant’s prayer for an order of certiorari to lie against the warrant of arrest issued from the High Court (Commercial Division) Accra, on the 16th day of January 2020 and accordingly quashed same. We hereby set out the reasons for the majority decision.
(2) The case of THE REPUBLIC VS. EUGENE BAFFOE-BONNIE & 4 ORS Ref. No. J1/06/2018, dated 7th June 2018, did not only produce the ground breaking guidelines on pretrial disclosures in further enhancement of our criminal justice system in strict fidelity with Articles 19(2)(e) and (g) of the 1992 Constitution. In the course of the trial at the High Court, the case provoked an unrelated matter to the substantive trial, in consequence of which the trial judge issued a warrant of arrest on KELVIN TAYLOR on the 16th day of January 2020.
(3) The said warrant is reproduced as follows:-
WARRANT FOR THE ARREST OF KELVIN TAYLOR
WHEREAS the above-named case is pending before the High Court, Accra.
AND WHEREAS, the Court’s attention has been drawn to a scandalous video circulating on social media in relation to this case, which video contains an extremely scandalous and prima facie contemptuous speech that scandalizes the Judge, the Court and the whole administration of justice.
AND WHEREAS, the said scandalous video is purported to have been made by a scoundrel who styles himself as Kelvin Taylor, who is not a party to this case.
AND THE COURT, finding it necessary to invoke the powers vested in it under Article 126(2) of the Constitution, 1992, to proceed against the said scoundrel, Kelvin Taylor for contempt.
NOW THEREFORE, the Court orders the issuance of this Warrant for the apprehension of the body of Kelvin Taylor, and for him to be produced before the court, to answer to the question why he should not be committed to prison for making such contemptuous statements which are totally a fabrication by him, in the said video.
***IT IS HEREBY FURTHER ORDE