Lawyers cannot shun vacation trials – Deputy Attorney-Genera
The Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, has said the Ghana Bar Association (GBA)’s position on criminal trials during the legal vacation is not supported by law.
He said the decision to conduct proceedings during the annual legal vacation rested with the Bench and that lawyers could not unilaterally absent themselves from court during the period.
Dr Srem-Sai was responding to a petition signed by the President of the GBA, Mrs Efua Ghartey, to the Chief Justice, arguing that vacation sittings should be restricted to urgent or interlocutory matters and that lawyers were not compelled to attend trials during the recess.
“There is no genuine or real controversy here,” he said. “The matter is simple. It’s been the case that vacation courts are always sitting whenever there’s a legal vacation. No one can dispute that simple fact.”
He dismissed the GBA President’s assertion that an established convention barred vacation courts from conducting full trials as “completely false” and unsupported by law.
Dr Srem-Sai cited Order 79 of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2004 (C.I. 47), saying it expressly empowered the Chief Justice to schedule hearings during vacation periods when required.
The GBA’s petition supports the position of lawyers, including Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame and Mr Sam Okudzeto, who had earlier written to the Chief Justice asking that proceedings involving their clients be halted to enable them to take some rest during the legal vacation.
The association maintained that Vacation Courts traditionally dealt with emergencies and interlocutory matters rather than trials.
It also argued that the willingness and availability of counsel had traditionally been an important consideration in determining whether proceedings should take place during the vacation.
The GBA explained that under the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2004, C.I. 47, specifically Order 79, Rule 4, the High Court observed three vacations annually, with the second and longest running from August 1 to September 30.
It said the rule was intended to give lawyers, judges and judicial staff a deserved period of rest after the second term, the longest in the legal calendar.
However, Dr Srem-Sai described the GBA’s interpretation as a “self-imposed understanding of the law” that should not be allowed to determine the administration of cases before the courts.
He further warned that lawyers who refused to appear before Vacation Courts could expose their clients to serious consequences.
He said judges who had been authorised to sit during the vacation were entitled to proceed with cases even when counsel failed to appear.
“As the judge said, he has a warrant to hear the case and sit in vacation. And if you don’t come, he will treat it as if you are not interested in legal representation,” he said.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
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