THE REPUBLIC v. KWAME DOSSE & 2 OTHERS, EX PARTE: BEN KOOMSON PAYIN
2018
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- KWEKU T. ACKAAH-BOAFO
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence Law
- Administrative Law
- Constitutional Law
2018
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This High Court decision arose from an application by a Plaintiff in Suit No. LD/0383/2018 to commit three Respondents—including the Accra-based Okaikoi North Municipal Assembly and its Municipal Chief Executive, Nii Boye Laryea—for contempt following the dawn demolition of the Plaintiffs’ shop. The court reiterated that contempt, a quasi-criminal remedy, protects the administration of justice and demands proof beyond reasonable doubt. Central to the analysis was whether the Applicants complied with the court’s directive to serve a notice of entry of interlocutory judgment; they had instead served an entry of judgment drafted by counsel. The court found this non-compliance, along with the absence of a penal notice, fatal to invoking committal jurisdiction. While recognizing that non-parties may be liable for contempt if they knowingly aid a breach, the evidence did not meet the burden here. The Respondents were acquitted and discharged, with no order as to costs, though the court admonished the Assembly’s unequal and precipitous enforcement actions.
DECISION
APPLICATION FOR COMMITTAL FOR CONTEMPT
i. Introduction:
[1] The denial of liberty of any citizen of our Republic resulting from a charge of contempt is effected in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. Even though there is no specific law on contempt in Ghana, the absence of codification of the law of contempt in Ghana does not in itself violate the principle that there must not be crime or punishment except in accordance with fixed or pre‑determined law. This is because the charge of contempt of court in Ghana rests in the concept of the public defiance that accompanies the charge of contempt. To establish contempt in Ghana the Applicant must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused defied or disobeyed a court order, with intent, knowledge or recklessness as to the fact that the public disobedience will tend to depreciate the authority of the court.
[2]. As previously stated by this Court ‘contempt of court is the big stick of civil litigation and because of the serious nature of a contempt finding, a finding should be made sparingly and only in the clearest cut of cases. A direct intention to disobey a Court order or an act to prejudice a pending application is required and it ought to be a willful disregard of the order or prejudice the outcome of a pending suit in the Court’.
[3] By a Motion on Notice filed at the registry of this court on October 2, 2018, the Applicant herein is praying the Court to use the “big stick” against the Respondents, “for an order to commit the Respondents herein for Contempt of this Honourable Court”.
[4] Black’s Law Dictionary 8th Edition defines contempt as “conduct that defies the authority or dignity of a Court or legislature. Because such conduct interferes with the administration of justice, it is punishable, usually by fine or imprisonment.” The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English by A.S. Hornby (7th Edition) also defines contempt of court as “the crime of refusing to obey an order made by a court; not showing respect for a court or judge.”
ii. So what constitutes contempt in Ghana?
[5] In R v SITO I; EX PARTE FORDJOUR (2001-2002) SCGLR 322 the Supreme Court gave the elements constituting the offence of contempt as that:-
a) there should have been a judgment or order which required the contemnor to do or abstain from doing something;
b) the contemnor knew what precisely he was expected to do or abstain from doing; and
c) that he failed to comp