An Accra High Court has ordered the Attorney-General to assume control of all criminal prosecutions currently being handled by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
The Court said the OSP’s ongoing prosecutions were void.
The court held that while the OSP retains investigative powers, it could not independently prosecute criminal cases without authorisation from the Attorney General under Article 88(4) of the 1992 Constitution.
Justice John Eugene Nyadu Nyante delivered the ruling following a legal challenge to the OSP’s prosecutorial mandate, awarding costs of GH¢15,000 against the anti-corruption body.
The judgment effectively halts the OSP’s prosecution activities until it secures formal delegation of prosecutorial authority from the Attorney General’s office.
Meanwhile, the OSP in a statement, said it was taking steps to quickly overturn the decision of the General Jurisdiction Court since the High Court did not have jurisdiction to, in effect, strike down parts of an Act of Parliament as unconstitutional.
It said it was only the Supreme Court which could strike down parts of an Act of Parliament as unconstitutional.
The OSP firmly assured the public that all the criminal prosecutions it had commenced before the courts and all the criminal prosecutions it is about to commence before the courts remain valid.
“We will proceed based on our mandate under the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), which remains valid and in force as the matter has not been decided by the Supreme Court,” it added.
GNA