Supreme Court throws out Gyakye Quayson’s application to quash High Court’s daily trial ruling

The Supreme Court of Ghana has thrown an application by the Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, for the court to strike out the High Court ruling that his criminal trial should be heard daily.

According to a news report by citinewsroom.com, the Supreme Court ruled that the application by the lawyers of Gyakye Quayson lacked merit.

Gyakye Quayson, through his lawyers, filed a certiorari application, arguing that the trial judge had erred in denying their request to direct the Attorney General’s office to provide additional disclosures.

The lawyers stated that the high court judge erred in allowing the application for the trial on a daily basis to be heard.

They added that the judge took his decision on a document that lacked an accompanying affidavit.

The report indicated that Quayson’s lawyer, Justin Tarewagya, during the hearing, argued that the High Court’s reliance on the non-affidavit document was wrong; saying that the court should not have considered it as it lacked the necessary legal weight.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, who represented the state, stated that the Supreme Court should dismiss Quayson's application because it was incomplete.

He said that the certiorari application was incomplete because the supporting deposition lacked proof of authority from the lawyer, which is a violation of court rules.

Background:

The High Court in Accra, on Friday (June 18, 2023), ruled that the ongoing criminal trial of ousted Assin North Member of Parliament, James Gyakye Quayson, will be heard daily starting from Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

This was after the presiding judge, Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, turned down an application for the trial to be adjourned till after the by-election.

The Court has since fixed June 20, 21, and 23 for the trial to continue.

Quayson was recently ousted from parliament after the Supreme Court of Ghana ruled that he was ineligible to contest in the 2020 parliamentary election because he failed to renounce his Canadian citizenship in time.

But there is still one case the former MP has to face in court after the Office of the Attorney General accused him of deceiving public officers to acquire state documents.

On February 12, 2022, the State charged James Gyakye Quayson with five counts; deceit of a public officer, forgery of a passport, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and false declaration.

BAI/NOQ

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