The Courts were yesterday compelled to adjourn cases that involved State Attorneys indefinitely following their withdrawal of service over what they described as poor working conditions.
Cases that were billed to have taken place at the Superior Courts including the Highest Court of the land, the Supreme Court, were adjourned sine die.
The Supreme Court, for instance, had five cases adjourned with one struck out by a five member panel presided over by Justice William Atuguba for want of prosecution.
The situation was no different at the Human Rights Court, the Commercial Court and the Fast Track High Courts where suspected criminals brought from Nsawam were sent back to remand.
The State Attorneys are demanding for salary increment and the harmonization of their salaries and benefits to those of Circuit Court Judges as stated in the Legal Services Act 1993. They are also calling for office equipment which is hampering their service operations.
When the Daily Heritage visited the courts yesterday, the State Attorneys were absent and the presiding judges’ only option was to have the cases adjourned.
They earlier gave government a July 6, 2015 deadline to address their concerns regarding their working conditions, but as of the time of filing this report, the government was yet to intervene and have their demands met.
Some lawyers who had their cases adjourned told the paper that their clients were those going to suffer the undue repercussions.
One of the lawyers who had his case adjourned, Nii Bi Ayi Bonte described the development as unfortunate and urged government to strike a favorable deal with the state attorneys as soon as possible.
Lawyer’s frustration
Venting his spleen about the development, Lawyer Ayi Bonte, said, “This morning when I came, the judge who was supposed to sit on the matter was sitting in another court and when I approached him to have an interaction with him; he also told me that he has heard that the people are not coming.
“There are a lot of matters in here, for example, when the state’s inaction is leading to a strike action which is going to impact negatively on these persons whose rights have been truncated since April 2013, and then we can only say it is unfortunate.
“My clients have been charged with an offence which is non-bailable, and when the trial delays unduly, it impacts negatively on the accused person, that is my worry.
“It is frustrating. For those of us who are in private legal practice we have to work to earn our paycheck. They (State Attorneys) are paid by the state and some of the issues that they raise if you ask me honestly, they are right. They are prosecuting somebody in a criminal matter. You know criminals also have friends; these people could also be attacked, so they are demanding that they should be offered some protection and I think they are justified in making that demand.”
Judgement debt
He told the paper that when a trial delays unduly, it impacts negatively on an accused person and if he/she is ultimately discharged, he could take legal action against the state.
“You know there are a lot of legal consequences. When somebody has been prosecuted for all the wrong reasons and is discharged, it could lead to judgement debt.”
<<Print>>