Inspire of your hgh sounding title, we all know that's DEPUTY ASSISTANT A-G in the US means you were some low rank research attorney in the AG office. At best you handled minor cases once in a while. You cannot bombazille Gha ... read full comment
Inspire of your hgh sounding title, we all know that's DEPUTY ASSISTANT A-G in the US means you were some low rank research attorney in the AG office. At best you handled minor cases once in a while. You cannot bombazille Ghanaians with "A-G" title, as if your we're some oga in Kenturky.
boat Koraaa. Tweaks!
Kofi Ansah, New Jersey - USA 10 years ago
it bothers me when educated people like you write from your stomach instead of from your head. freedom of speach does not me you should go on air with distorted informatin to the public, it does not mean you should turn the t ... read full comment
it bothers me when educated people like you write from your stomach instead of from your head. freedom of speach does not me you should go on air with distorted informatin to the public, it does not mean you should turn the truth of event upside down to serve your selfish interest. so if you have nothing to do don't do it here
okyeame 10 years ago
I think you are wrong Kofi,the judiciary an arm of government is there to interpret the law,so if the SC thinks that someone has broken the law,that person should be arraigned before another judge since that so called crimina ... read full comment
I think you are wrong Kofi,the judiciary an arm of government is there to interpret the law,so if the SC thinks that someone has broken the law,that person should be arraigned before another judge since that so called criminal comment was not made in the courtroom in front of the SC panel of judges.
President Mahama is the head of the executive arm , can he also cause people to be imprisoned because someone insulted him as it is going on now?He will have to send his case to court for determination of his claim.Bro there should be checks and balances in the system but i think the SC is now playing the role of Lords and must be checked
Kofi Ansah, New Jersey - USA 10 years ago
what are you doing now after sorting and putting together documents for your bosses as an assistant deputy attorney general in Kentucky. am sure you are now filling "marriage and divorce" papers in the bronx NY
what are you doing now after sorting and putting together documents for your bosses as an assistant deputy attorney general in Kentucky. am sure you are now filling "marriage and divorce" papers in the bronx NY
okyeame 10 years ago
Could you please stick to the issue instead of going personal?What the writer does isn't important here
Could you please stick to the issue instead of going personal?What the writer does isn't important here
Yaw Amofa 10 years ago
Do any of these charlatans parading around as Law Lords know anything about Ghanaian constitutional laws? When they eat their overfill of McDonalds, they begin to hallucinate, and talk rubbish.
Do any of these charlatans parading around as Law Lords know anything about Ghanaian constitutional laws? When they eat their overfill of McDonalds, they begin to hallucinate, and talk rubbish.
A. Nyamaa 10 years ago
Yaw
Please comment on the issues raised and stop pulling the man down.
Please be a bit tolerant and accept that other people may have views which are very different to yours
Do you have a wife and is she allowed to hav ... read full comment
Yaw
Please comment on the issues raised and stop pulling the man down.
Please be a bit tolerant and accept that other people may have views which are very different to yours
Do you have a wife and is she allowed to have a mind of her own in your household without being denigrated?
Yaw Amofa 10 years ago
That was my opinion.
That was my opinion.
Mandela Donkor, Kumasi 10 years ago
I think people should present reasonable comments than just attacking persons. We need to educate ourselves and stop the senseless attacks and comments.
I think people should present reasonable comments than just attacking persons. We need to educate ourselves and stop the senseless attacks and comments.
Kb 10 years ago
“Freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of saying stupid shit.”
? Jim C. Hines
“Freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of saying stupid shit.”
? Jim C. Hines
GREAT NANA ANTWI 10 years ago
ARE YOU IN NEED OF A FAST POWERFULL SPIRITUALIST?THEN GOOGLE OR GO TO www greatnanapowerfullspiritualist blogspot com
ARE YOU IN NEED OF A FAST POWERFULL SPIRITUALIST?THEN GOOGLE OR GO TO www greatnanapowerfullspiritualist blogspot com
Okonko Palm 10 years ago
The Kentucky state must be a lawless one if you are suggesting that when a court gives an order for the sake of national security freedom of speech must prevail over that.
All the international instruments which guarantee ... read full comment
The Kentucky state must be a lawless one if you are suggesting that when a court gives an order for the sake of national security freedom of speech must prevail over that.
All the international instruments which guarantee the right to freedom of expression also recognise national security the right of individuals and the proper functioning of the court and society as a legitimate ground for limiting that right.
All international documents such as the Universal Declaration for Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), European Convention, American Convention, and African Charter recognize the limits of free speech.
In all democratic countries, these restrictions are provided by law and necessary for respect of the rights and reputation of others, and for the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health and morals.
It has been determined that in limiting free speech there must be need for a pressing social need which must be recognized, and reasons provided to justify the restriction must be relevant and sufficient.
When all democracies and international bodies and human right organization recognize the limit of freedom of speech,you seem to be saying that Kentucky legal system provides unqualified and absolute right to free speech.
I am also surprised to hear that there is nothing like contempt of court under the Kentucky legal jurisdiction. So when when the court gives an order for reasons given above that order could be breached with impunity.What a recipe for chaos
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago
You have to narrow the isssue as to whether merely publishing that a judge is "selective or hypocritical" or that "the NDC will not accept the judgement of the Supreme Court" contitute the type of prohibited speech contemplat ... read full comment
You have to narrow the isssue as to whether merely publishing that a judge is "selective or hypocritical" or that "the NDC will not accept the judgement of the Supreme Court" contitute the type of prohibited speech contemplated in the convoluted articles you cite.
And when did any speech serve to cause conflagration in Ghana?
Advocates of dictatorship intent on silencing the people have the habit of creating a doomsday scenario for the expansion of all freedoms...That is the familiar mantra of the oppressor to justify all tyranny.
Dr. Agyenim Boateng's view is the one accepted by truly educated lawyers, and rejected by half-baked scholars masquerading as legal experts.
Okonko Palm 10 years ago
It is unfortunate that some of you resort to insults when we differ in our observations.Most often when people resort to insults it is because they have no valid argument left.
Whenever you see personal attacks and abusive ... read full comment
It is unfortunate that some of you resort to insults when we differ in our observations.Most often when people resort to insults it is because they have no valid argument left.
Whenever you see personal attacks and abusive ad hominem arguments being used in a discussion, it is unlikely that anything productive will come out of it in the end.
I will advice you that our debates have to be civil, decorous and civilize because the proper way to evaluate the merits of an argument is by looking at what the argument says, not by distracting people's attention from the argument by insulting the other person.
Your training should equip you better than that.
G. K. Berko 10 years ago
We now see how someone following your lead is now the most wanted person to face the Courts in the USA.
We now see how someone following your lead is now the most wanted person to face the Courts in the USA.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago
You should address the question I posed in my previous post and stop your foolish allusion to wrong- headed events in the USA as a template for illegality in Ghana.
Why do you have to focus on negativity in America as a mod ... read full comment
You should address the question I posed in my previous post and stop your foolish allusion to wrong- headed events in the USA as a template for illegality in Ghana.
Why do you have to focus on negativity in America as a model for Ghana if you think we are doing the right thing?
G. K. Berko 10 years ago
Call it "a foolish allusion". That is how your kind respond to tight arguments. You characteristically impugn the intelligence of anyone who takes you to task on your opinions. That is the typical elitist snob some of you Gh ... read full comment
Call it "a foolish allusion". That is how your kind respond to tight arguments. You characteristically impugn the intelligence of anyone who takes you to task on your opinions. That is the typical elitist snob some of you Ghanaian with Phd.s deal to the masses.
But as I alluded to in my earlier submission, Academic application alone would not serve us well unless it is guided by good old basic wisdom.
Give me an example of the "wrong headed events" in the USA to which you attribute my reasoning in my piece.
Insults do not deter me from pursuing the truth. And if you have any humility in you to consider the others' opinion, you would acknowledge that I meant to show that in circumstances of extreme urgency, especially when immense danger looms, exceptions to the norm could be appropriate for averting disaster. That is what many of us believe the SC did with the Contempt of Court case in point.
I offered the USA reference as a precedent of how normal legal rational would be set aside for a drastic but necessary action. Furthermore, your characterization of the SC action as an "illegality" is your opinion yet to be established in a Court of Law. The fact that you claim to be an Attorney of some sorts does not preclude your views from being challenged, even by laymen like me, just as you criticized our SC for their action.
I could smell your rage boiling just for your opinion being questioned. Doesn't that typify the kind of democracy under which you wish your legal prescriptions be adopted by the rest of us?
And finally, answering any question you posed should be my prerogative. I chose to respond to your other points in your piece at that time. Others may take you on with your questions. I may come back to them later.
Keep huffing and puffing, Dr. SAS!
Long live Ghana!!!
G. K. Berko 10 years ago
We now see how someone following your lead is now the most wanted person to face the Courts in the USA. Would you save his neck by exercising his freedom of expression?
What you so conveniently omitted in your outright su ... read full comment
We now see how someone following your lead is now the most wanted person to face the Courts in the USA. Would you save his neck by exercising his freedom of expression?
What you so conveniently omitted in your outright support of Dr. Boateng's position is the context or circumstances under which those
partial statements you quoted we're made. We often denounce and criticize these Judges arbitrarily and they do not hunt us down for contempt of Court violations. But given the unique risks involved in this Election Petition case, any utterances that are intended to erode the integrity of the judges to preemptively rubbish their verdict before it is reached sets the Nation up for rejection of the outcome and e dangers our democracy and Public Peace. Additionally, those comments were made not in isolation of the case on hand. Those who made them intended to them to impact the case.
We may not be all lawyers or have any Legal degrees who support the SC action. But we do not necessarily need to be or have those degrees to understand fundamental truth, or appreciate what is morally right. So, do not try to suppress our views just because we are not i your profession.
You are doing to those of us without legal backgrounds exactly what you are protesting, shutting us up with an Academic constraint. With or without a legal expertise we could be learning more by these discussions and might help remind you the experts of the existence of exceptions to the Law.
Long live Ghana!!!
PKA 10 years ago
I couldn't agree with you more.
I couldn't agree with you more.
Kobena 10 years ago
Dr Boateng,
You have said it all. The problem is with our education system. From Art through Mathematics to Zoology, the books and concepts are the same very archaic ones of the 1970s and 80s. The medium of instruction is st ... read full comment
Dr Boateng,
You have said it all. The problem is with our education system. From Art through Mathematics to Zoology, the books and concepts are the same very archaic ones of the 1970s and 80s. The medium of instruction is still the same - the teacher/lecturer dictates his notes and every cough is written down and reproduced at examination time, with very little thought.
You see its effect displayed on the political platforms, in the phone-in programmes, on GhanaWeb and in parliament. Even at the "Odikro's palace," a person who has been accused of a crime is given the chance to face his/her accusers and call witnesses. Not the Supreme Court of Ghana and the GBA thinks it is alright!
Okonko Palm 10 years ago
Chief Kobena.every crime has has its procedual roles that is why they don't all follow the same due process.For example the police arrests you for tire wear and instantly imposes a fine on you and it follows that process in m ... read full comment
Chief Kobena.every crime has has its procedual roles that is why they don't all follow the same due process.For example the police arrests you for tire wear and instantly imposes a fine on you and it follows that process in many motor offenses.
Under health and safety law the legislators in their wisdom thought that it should come under strict liability crimes and so it does not follow due process as you understand it.The requirement is if that offense had been committed and if so the type of punishment for it.
These strict liability crimes don't follow normal due process rules of crime where intent and the act must come together for the crime to be committed.So a different threshold is required.
In contempt of court under the jurisdiction that you are UK, contempt is governed by the 1881 COC act which says that:
COC should be governed by th strict liability rule.
In this Act “the strict liability rule” means the rule of law whereby conduct may be treated as a contempt of court as tending to interfere with the course of justice in particular legal proceedings regardless of intent to do so.
This its scope:
Limitation of scope of strict liability.
(1)The strict liability rule applies only in relation to publications, and for this purpose “publication” includes any speech, writing, [F1programme included in a cable programme service] or other communication in whatever form, which is addressed to the public at large or any section of the public.
(2)The strict liability rule applies only to a publication which creates a substantial risk that the course of justice in the proceedings in question will be seriously impeded or prejudiced.
(3)The strict liability rule applies to a publication only if the proceedings in question are active within the meaning of this section at the time of the publication.
(4)Schedule 1 applies for determining the times at which proceedings are to be treated as active within the meaning of this section.
[F2(5)In this section “programme service” has the same meaning as in the Broadcasting Act 1990.]
I hope from this explanation you will understand why due process was not followed because of the different procedural rules governing different crimes including contempt of court.
I respect your contribution on this forum hence my sharing of this knowledge with you.You may disagree with the decision and question whether it reached that threshold but certainly not the procedure or what some of you term due process.The supreme court of Ghana was well within its scope and followed the rules.
Kobena 10 years ago
Thanks, Okonko,
For the comment about my personal conduct and the detailed explanation. I really appreciate that.
I also appreciate the fact that the presiding judge gave a warning, which Ken for instance, should have tak ... read full comment
Thanks, Okonko,
For the comment about my personal conduct and the detailed explanation. I really appreciate that.
I also appreciate the fact that the presiding judge gave a warning, which Ken for instance, should have taken into consideration before writing what he wrote and especially the extent he went. I served on the editorial board of a church magazine in Ghana for many years and I remember that whenever we had any doubt at all about our editorial or an article, we showed it to the lawyers for their opinion.
However, I also believe that judges on a case are not supposed to listen to or read what others say or write about their 'live' cases. My worry is the fact that the kind of summary justice that was meted out to Ken in particular, could take us down the slippery slopes of times past.
I understand for instance, that if I overspeed in a residential area, the police can give me a ticket and points on my driving licence, but if I "obstruct a law enforcement officer in the discharge of his duties," I deserve to be charged at a court of competent jurisdiction with a chance of being represented by counsel?
Have a great day.
G. K. Berko 10 years ago
Come on, Dr. You may have to get off the white horse of judicial idealism theoretically associated with every Democracy to appreciate the stint of cautionary act that the SC had to, and did, invoke to prevent greater chaos.
... read full comment
Come on, Dr. You may have to get off the white horse of judicial idealism theoretically associated with every Democracy to appreciate the stint of cautionary act that the SC had to, and did, invoke to prevent greater chaos.
Such idealism did not stop Gitmo in the USA. And in view of what is at stake in Ghana relating to the case in point, the SC was right to stop a potential slip of the country into a conflagration.
G. K. Berko 10 years ago
Come on, Dr. You may have to get off the white horse of judicial idealism theoretically associated with every true Democracy to appreciate the stint of cautionary act that the SC had to, and did, invoke to prevent greater cha ... read full comment
Come on, Dr. You may have to get off the white horse of judicial idealism theoretically associated with every true Democracy to appreciate the stint of cautionary act that the SC had to, and did, invoke to prevent greater chaos.
Such idealism did not stop Gitmo in the USA, may I remind you. I hope you have registered your expert protest to its existence. And in view of what is at stake in Ghana relating to the case in point, the SC was right to stop a potential slip of the country into a conflagration.
You might have been absolutely right, under normal circumstances. But the law ought to be applied in the best interest of all not just for the transient gratification of a few. It is the lasting result anticipated from the SC ruling that trumps.
Besides, why can't the SC contempt action be seen in the light of someone falsely shouting "Fire"? Yes, we cherish Freedom of speech. But we must have REASONABLE constraints embedded in our laws that guarantee us those rights. And which organ is more appropriate to interpret and apply them than the SC, and what set of circumstances could have been more apt than the dangerous legal tussle we now have on our hands?
If you fear the SC action threatens the expurgation of the libel law, move to establish its engravement in stone, if that is ever possible. In a Nation like ours where common student upheaval on a tiny campus often evades effective control for lack of requisite resources, why should we toy with a potential situation for a real National violence?
If your legal argument even holds, the timing for its application begs for update. We cannot enjoy the safety of this advanced democracy and nation, the USA, and overlook the real perils that immediately confront our People back home, by demanding too much of our folks.
We do not hear the concerned voices of legal experts like you when various powerful entities run our resource-bases that support our sheer existence aground. Maybe you should be more vocal on how to truncate our public corruption, the idiotic, self-serving deals that give away our Natural Assets, and the risk of ethnocentric violence that our people are deeply engulfed in.
That could clear the path for the fast reach of the idealism you are touting, here.
Long live Ghana!!!
Prof Lungu 10 years ago
We see you have written a lot all over the place.
However, you do not have the better argument.
Dr. Boateng does!
As an example, how is ascribing "mere" to a judge, or describing the same judge as "selective and hy ... read full comment
We see you have written a lot all over the place.
However, you do not have the better argument.
Dr. Boateng does!
As an example, how is ascribing "mere" to a judge, or describing the same judge as "selective and hypocritical" analogous to another person "...shouting "Fire"" in a crowded theater? How is the former a threat to a democracy, to an institution, even?
Further, granted there has been, and there are currently regressive and intolerant political strains in some parts of the US. But should this be an excuse for Ghanaians to throw democratic (Constitutional, in Dr. Boateng-speak) ideals out the window in Ghana?
And so, it is rather strange that you have this problem with "idealism."
How low, we must ask, do you want to shoot, for Ghana's sake?
G. K. Berko 10 years ago
A less cursory examination of my original comment should inform you of my pragmatic allusion to the existence of exceptions in the rigorous application of Law.
My "Fire..." analogy was aligned with the unnecessary and dan ... read full comment
A less cursory examination of my original comment should inform you of my pragmatic allusion to the existence of exceptions in the rigorous application of Law.
My "Fire..." analogy was aligned with the unnecessary and dangerous alarm those folks charged with contempt were raising about the SC in the midst of this very precarious Court case that has the potential to set the Nation ablaze.
All I meant was to allow us to accommodate reasonable exceptions in our Judicial process.
If any Legal brain seriously would like to challenge the SC action, let that entity apply to do so in the Court. Where were they when the SC first sat to hear the culprits? They might have saved the culprits from jail term.
I am all over where? I respond to what I think needs my opinion, especially, if I have to respond to comments on mine, like now. Does that kill you?
I did not reject Dr. Boateng's core legal argument. What I pulled was the need to recognize the circumstances which called for the likely exceptions the SC applied.
I know you are an avid advocate for freedom of expression via your persistent work on our FOIB, which I joined you on. But I reserve the opinion that we have yet to define the limits of such freedom.
If the SC was "wrong" in their action it is most likely the root of that error resides in the Constitution itself and unless that is amended appropriately their action would stand the Constitutional test. I cannot imagine the SC knowingly flouting the Constitution without some embedded leeway.
I do not shun idealism. But idealism would only remain that without pragmatic assessment of our realities.
Long live Ghana!!!
Whatever 10 years ago
Yeah right, open up everything, let everybody in Ghana say and do as he or she pleases... And I can promise you that that it is a recipe for CHAOS. The contempt law is intended to protect the dignity of judges who are not all ... read full comment
Yeah right, open up everything, let everybody in Ghana say and do as he or she pleases... And I can promise you that that it is a recipe for CHAOS. The contempt law is intended to protect the dignity of judges who are not allowed to grant interviews or hold press conferences to clear their name. So it must stay as a check against unguarded comments against them
Prof Lungu 10 years ago
Another strong voice: balanced and Ghana-centered!
Yes, we agree!
Justice Atuguba is intimidating, harassing and humiliating the people!
Thanks, Dr. Agyenim Boateng.
Another strong voice: balanced and Ghana-centered!
Yes, we agree!
Justice Atuguba is intimidating, harassing and humiliating the people!
Inspire of your hgh sounding title, we all know that's DEPUTY ASSISTANT A-G in the US means you were some low rank research attorney in the AG office. At best you handled minor cases once in a while. You cannot bombazille Gha ...
read full comment
it bothers me when educated people like you write from your stomach instead of from your head. freedom of speach does not me you should go on air with distorted informatin to the public, it does not mean you should turn the t ...
read full comment
I think you are wrong Kofi,the judiciary an arm of government is there to interpret the law,so if the SC thinks that someone has broken the law,that person should be arraigned before another judge since that so called crimina ...
read full comment
what are you doing now after sorting and putting together documents for your bosses as an assistant deputy attorney general in Kentucky. am sure you are now filling "marriage and divorce" papers in the bronx NY
Could you please stick to the issue instead of going personal?What the writer does isn't important here
Do any of these charlatans parading around as Law Lords know anything about Ghanaian constitutional laws? When they eat their overfill of McDonalds, they begin to hallucinate, and talk rubbish.
Yaw
Please comment on the issues raised and stop pulling the man down.
Please be a bit tolerant and accept that other people may have views which are very different to yours
Do you have a wife and is she allowed to hav ...
read full comment
That was my opinion.
I think people should present reasonable comments than just attacking persons. We need to educate ourselves and stop the senseless attacks and comments.
“Freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of saying stupid shit.”
? Jim C. Hines
ARE YOU IN NEED OF A FAST POWERFULL SPIRITUALIST?THEN GOOGLE OR GO TO www greatnanapowerfullspiritualist blogspot com
The Kentucky state must be a lawless one if you are suggesting that when a court gives an order for the sake of national security freedom of speech must prevail over that.
All the international instruments which guarantee ...
read full comment
You have to narrow the isssue as to whether merely publishing that a judge is "selective or hypocritical" or that "the NDC will not accept the judgement of the Supreme Court" contitute the type of prohibited speech contemplat ...
read full comment
It is unfortunate that some of you resort to insults when we differ in our observations.Most often when people resort to insults it is because they have no valid argument left.
Whenever you see personal attacks and abusive ...
read full comment
We now see how someone following your lead is now the most wanted person to face the Courts in the USA.
You should address the question I posed in my previous post and stop your foolish allusion to wrong- headed events in the USA as a template for illegality in Ghana.
Why do you have to focus on negativity in America as a mod ...
read full comment
Call it "a foolish allusion". That is how your kind respond to tight arguments. You characteristically impugn the intelligence of anyone who takes you to task on your opinions. That is the typical elitist snob some of you Gh ...
read full comment
We now see how someone following your lead is now the most wanted person to face the Courts in the USA. Would you save his neck by exercising his freedom of expression?
What you so conveniently omitted in your outright su ...
read full comment
I couldn't agree with you more.
Dr Boateng,
You have said it all. The problem is with our education system. From Art through Mathematics to Zoology, the books and concepts are the same very archaic ones of the 1970s and 80s. The medium of instruction is st ...
read full comment
Chief Kobena.every crime has has its procedual roles that is why they don't all follow the same due process.For example the police arrests you for tire wear and instantly imposes a fine on you and it follows that process in m ...
read full comment
Thanks, Okonko,
For the comment about my personal conduct and the detailed explanation. I really appreciate that.
I also appreciate the fact that the presiding judge gave a warning, which Ken for instance, should have tak ...
read full comment
Come on, Dr. You may have to get off the white horse of judicial idealism theoretically associated with every Democracy to appreciate the stint of cautionary act that the SC had to, and did, invoke to prevent greater chaos.
...
read full comment
Come on, Dr. You may have to get off the white horse of judicial idealism theoretically associated with every true Democracy to appreciate the stint of cautionary act that the SC had to, and did, invoke to prevent greater cha ...
read full comment
We see you have written a lot all over the place.
However, you do not have the better argument.
Dr. Boateng does!
As an example, how is ascribing "mere" to a judge, or describing the same judge as "selective and hy ...
read full comment
A less cursory examination of my original comment should inform you of my pragmatic allusion to the existence of exceptions in the rigorous application of Law.
My "Fire..." analogy was aligned with the unnecessary and dan ...
read full comment
Yeah right, open up everything, let everybody in Ghana say and do as he or she pleases... And I can promise you that that it is a recipe for CHAOS. The contempt law is intended to protect the dignity of judges who are not all ...
read full comment
Another strong voice: balanced and Ghana-centered!
Yes, we agree!
Justice Atuguba is intimidating, harassing and humiliating the people!
Thanks, Dr. Agyenim Boateng.