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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

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