A former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nii Ayikoi Otoo, has questioned why some cases will be heard in court during the legal vacation, describing it as unfair and inconsistent with the purpose of the two-month break.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM, monitored by GhanaWeb on August 13, 2026, Ayikoi Otoo explained that the legal vacation is an established period of rest for lawyers and judges after a demanding legal year.

"You know lawyers work from the opening of the legal year, which is around October. Then we have a short break during Christmas, then we continue, and then we come to what we call the long vacation, which is from August, the whole of August and September, two months,” he explained.

Ayikoi Otoo, however, said regardless of its historical origins, the legal vacation has now become an established period during which lawyers are expected to take a break and return to work re-energised.

“…At least what we have all come to look at is that you have a two-month period, the whole of August and the whole of September, where we do not work. It is a period of rest. I mean, after everything, when a person works; he needs a break to re-energise himself and then come back. So, vacations are necessary,” he stated.

Ayikoi Otoo said the principle of rest also applies to judges, particularly judges of the superior courts, including the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

He noted that although he was called to the Bar in 1981 and had practised law for about 45 years, he had not personally experienced a situation in which a Chief Justice routinely directed lawyers to appear during the legal vacation to hear substantive cases.

“I was called to the Bar in 1981. I practised law for about 45 years. I don't have this experience of the Chief Justice directing people to appear if it is during vacation, especially with such high-profile cases. What message are you sending out there?” he asked.

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He further explained that vacation courts, particularly at the High Court, are generally intended to deal with urgent applications that cannot wait until the end of the vacation.

“Normally during legal vacation of the superior courts, there are vacation judges. What happens particularly within the High Courts is that there are vacation judges whose limit generally is to deal with urgent applications. So, during vacations, when you go to court, you usually will be dealing with applications and not the hearing of substantive matters,” he said.

He stressed that the legal vacation does not mean that all courts stop functioning.

According to him, circuit and magistrate courts continue to hear cases during the period, noting that these courts are largely used by junior lawyers.

“But this is only for the superior courts, which means that the circuit courts and the magistrate courts go on hearing their cases. But you also realise that it is junior lawyers who usually practise in the lower courts, that is the magistrate and circuit courts. So, not many senior lawyers are involved and therefore they continue to go to court,” he said.

The former Attorney General said he was particularly concerned by reports that lawyers are now being required to appear during the legal vacation to continue substantive cases.

“My brothers, you were all in this country. Many NDC guys were lined up in court. They played these delay tactics for three years, and after eight years, power changed, and the Attorney General came and entered a nolle prosequi for all of them. For eight years, the cases could not be tried because they were playing delay tactics,” he said.

His comments follow a growing disagreement between the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and the Judiciary over the continuation of some criminal trials during the legal vacation.

JKB/VPO

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