The Office of the Attorney-General has reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the rule of law following a recent High Court directive affecting the prosecutorial mandate of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Deputy Attorney-General, Justice Srem Sai, in a Facebook post, stressed that the Attorney-General will fully comply with the court’s ruling, stating unequivocally that “the Honourable Attorney-General has no intention or capacity to disobey or ignore the High Court’s order.”
The High Court in Accra on Wednesday, April 15 ordered the Attorney-General’s Department to take over all ongoing prosecutions being handled by the OSP. This arrangement, the court said, should remain in place until the OSP secures the constitutionally required authorisation from the Attorney-General to prosecute cases independently.
The ruling follows a legal challenge initiated by Peter Archiblod Hyde, an accused person in an OSP-led prosecution. Hyde, through his lawyer, argued that the OSP lacked the legal authority to prosecute without express authorisation from the Attorney-General, as required under both the Constitution and the OSP Act.
The ruling has significant implications for the anti-corruption body’s ongoing cases, many of which may now be temporarily halted or reassigned.
Justice Srem Sai noted that steps are already being taken to operationalise the court’s directive. “The Office of the Attorney-General will, in the coming days, begin to take the necessary steps to give effect to the Court’s order,” he stated.
