Legal vacation tussle not healthy for justice system – Suhuyini

Member of the NDC Communications Team, Hamza Suhuyini, has called for an amicable resolution to the dispute over whether the cases involving former Director-General of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), Kwabena Adu-Boahen, and former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), Hanan Abdul-Wahab, should be heard during the legal vacation.

Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Wednesday, August 12, Suhuyini said the focus should be on protecting the interests of justice rather than allowing the disagreement over the legal vacation to prolong proceedings.

“I think that the judge in the case must engage further with the lawyers of the accused persons. Let us reach an amicable solution,” he said.

According to him, reaching a mutually acceptable arrangement would help ensure public confidence in the outcome of the cases, regardless of whether the accused persons are ultimately convicted or discharged.

Suhuyini maintained that the ongoing disagreement over whether the cases should proceed during the legal vacation was not beneficial to any of the parties involved, including the accused persons and the state prosecutors.

He urged the parties to engage further and find common ground, stressing that the overriding consideration should be the interest of justice.

“This tussle as to whether to sit during legal vacation or not to sit is not healthy for all of us, whether accused persons or those who are actually prosecuting the case on behalf of the state,” he said.

His comments follow the rejection by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie of a request from lawyers for Adu-Boahen and Abdul-Wahab to defer their cases until after the legal vacation.

The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) subsequently appealed to the Chief Justice to ensure that judges adhere to established rules and traditions governing the legal vacation.

Source: CitiNewsRoom