CJ to create liaison between arms of gov't

Kumasi, Dec. 24, GNA - Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood, the Chief Justice, has with immediate effect decided to create a special liaison between the Judiciary, Legislature and the Government. This is to ensure that on daily basis any new Act of Parliament, Constitutional or Executive Instrument passed by Parliament is brought to the attention of the Judiciary.

Justice Jones Dotse, a Supreme Court Judge, who announced this at a press conference in Kumasi on Tuesday, explained that such a measure would ensure that laws requiring immediate application did not escape the attention of the courts, to avoid the application of outmoded laws. He said "You must have been puzzled over the news item that persons convicted of motor traffic offences and dealt with by the courts since October 3, 2008, are to have their sentences and fines varied but this is no big deal".

Justice Dotse said that the failure to bring the passage of Act 761 immediately to the attention of the courts and the police, who mainly prosecuted motor traffic offences "can be said to be a system's failure between the Legislature, Government printer and Judiciary". He said in order to address the illegalities that have occurred since October 3, the Chief Justice had in series of directives mandated Supervising High Court Judges to use the provisions in section 52 and 53 (3) of the Courts Act, 1993 Act 459.

Justice Dotse said "By this, sentences and fines imposed by the courts on motor traffic offenders on the old Law Act 683 since October 3, when Act 761 came into force will have those sentences and fines varied so that they are brought into line with penal provisions in the new law as contained in Act 761".

The press conference was necessitated by the revelation that offending drivers who were prosecuted recently especially as from October 3 this year, under the Road Traffic Act 2004, Act 683, were unlawfully punished as that particular law had been amended and replaced with Act 761, which gave lesser penal sanctions to offending drivers.