SAINT-AYISI SAMUEL

There has been an emphasis on the application of Erskine May Parliamentary Practice as an authoritative source of the Ghana Parliament’s elastic conception of its powers.  Within the purview of the common law applied Worldwide, Erskine May, which is uploaded in by successive clerks of the British Parliament, is widely consulted based on consensus as the leading authority on the law of parliamentary practice.  It can therefore be justified that the application of the Erskine May Parliamentary practice is substantially informed in Ghana’s own Standing Orders.  However, while both Erskine May and English parliamentary precedents may serve as a useful guide for common law parliaments generally, they have no mandate to control the remit of Ghana Parliament’s power. The foundation, of which Westminster Parliament was built on the application of Erskine May Parliamentary Practice, is a “sovereign” Parliament. This can also be described as the total independent an...

There has been a distortion of information and break in communication about the application of parliamentary Standing Orders. Citizens are swimming in a state of confusion as to whether the application of Standing Orders of Parliament directly affects the citizenry in relation to their constructive criticisms which is justified by the 1992 constitution. It must be understood that Parliament cannot, through the use of its Standing Orders, arrogate to itself powers or jurisdiction that it does not constitutionally possess.  Article 110(1) confers on Parliament the power to “regulate its own procedure” through its Standing Orders, also states, appropriately, that this power is “subject to the provisions of this Constitution”.  It must therefore be noted that the power conferred on Parliament by Article 110(1) is to be used by Parliament only to regulate its “procedure”.  Parliament therefore as no jurisdiction to expand or increase the substantive powers bestowed on it by...

There is an irreducible quality in the experience of uncoerced choice which leads men to risk their very lives on its behalf. Whether our choices are good or bad, wise or illogical, we feel diminished as humans if we are prevented from them. Denied freedom to make choices, we are denied responsibility and to deny responsibility is to deny our humanity in cogent and rational terms in the sphere of the World. It is beyond question that our Parliament, like all parliaments, is vested with “the power to punish for contempt.”  The Constitution expressly affirms that fact in Articles 122 and 123. The question that remains to be answered to the public and citizenry is the scope and content of Parliament’s contempt power. Specifically, against whom and for what conduct may Parliament use its contempt power? This equivocal provision of the constitution has resulted in a suspended legal argument as to whether parliament has the sole mandate to cite individuals for contempt of parliament...

The legal profession in Ghana is regulated by 1960 and 1969 rules whose application against a popular human rights lawyer have got tongues wagging. My intention here is to introduce you to a couple of these rules without commentary. The licences for the operation of law firms are subject to renewal each year just as each lawyer is required to obtain a licence each year to be able to practice. People and compers took up those cases when they didn’t have a licence to practice for the particular year. Some lawyers are getting suspended and others getting barred from practising for the rest of their lives. These are the two classes of sanctions the 1960 law prescribes for lawyers found guilty of professional misconduct by a disciplinary panel of mostly very senior judges and lawyers. Section 16 of the LEGAL PROFESSION ACT, 1960 ACT 32 says “[a] lawyer who is found guilty of grave misconduct in a professional respect, including a conduct which, in pursuance of the Rules is treated as ...

The inevitability section of poverty is sometimes mistaken to justify in certain illogical, irrational, illegal and illegitimate act. Empirically, it is not implausible to associate extreme poverty and perverse inequality to countries with high levels of corruption. One of the most destructive impediments to economic and social development is the virus of corruption. It washes away resources from the common pool and deprives a large population from partaking in the share of the national cake. Despite Ghana's good governance and democratic credentials, corruption still remains cancerous in the public service and society. Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gains. It can be classified as grand, petty and political, depending on the amount of monies lost and the sector where it occurs. Corruption is an illegal act, which siphons the nation's resources without any legal and moral justification. However, there had been different schools...

REJOINDERS: REFLECTION ON ARTICLE 10 OF THE GJA CODE OF ETHICS

What is Politics? How do you understand the term Politics? Politics they say “is a game of intelligence”. Others ventilate their sentiment on the bases that Politics is very ‘Dark and Dirty’. Upon contemplating on the conceptual term: “Politics”, we believe that to LEAD is to be in LEADERSHIP. And hence, we say politics is a venture, a game, and a place of LEADERSHIP. But having interviewed a couple of substantial political figures in Ghana, divergent personal understanding and views came as a result of years on political practice. In an interview with Madam Eva Loko, the Aspiring Member of Parliament for Klottey-Kolley Consistuency, she strongly claims based on political experience that ‘Politics’ is not ‘Dark’, neither is it not ‘Dirty’, but rather ‘UNPLEASANT’. She strategically prefers to use the word ‘UNPLEASANT’ to define politics. From the mind of the expertise, the unpleasant nature of politics is as a result of ‘insults’ and ‘corruption’. Madam Eva revealed that the intensi...

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah inherited the criminal libel law from the then British Colonial Administration as promulgated under 1960 Criminal Code, Act 29 and was used as an instrument to put media practitioners on their toes and were not left off the hook when they fell afoul of the law such as publishing fictitious statements likely to rundown the reputation of a person. Significantly, the criminal libel law can be looked at as a category of law enacted and used as an apparatus to jail journalists who published statements that had the propensity to injure the reputation of a person. The case of the Republic of Ghana Verses Kweku Baaku Junion of the Guide Newspaper, Republic of Ghana verses Haruna Attah of The Stateman Newspaper cannot be swept under the carpet. The criminal libel law was used by National Democratic Congress Rawlings- led Government to cause the arrest and detention of Kweku Baaku Junior of the then Guide Newspaper, Haruna attah of the then The Stateman Newspaper, Eben Quar...