As part of activities marking the 55th Students Representative Council (SRC) week celebrations of the Ghana School of Law, a memorial lecture on the theme: ‘52 Years after Re-Akoto: The Role of the Supreme Court in Advancing Constitutionalism Through Its Power of Interpretation Under the 1992 Constitution’, was organised.
The lecture, instituted by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II as life patron of the SRC of the Ghana School of Law in April 2006 is designed to promote research, study and educate the citizenry on the development of Ghana’s constitutional democracy and human and people’s rights.
This year’s lecture witnessed the creation of a moot court where students of the Ghana School of Law engaged in a debate in reference to the Akoto and seven others case of 1962 in light of the 1992 Constitution and modern jurisprudence of interpretation.
The appellants in the case were arrested and placed in detention on the November 10 and 11, 1959 under an order made by the Governor-General and signed on his behalf by the Minister of the Interior under section 2 of the Prevention Detention Act, 1958.
Lawyer Maxwell Opoku-Agyeman, Law lecturer at the Ghana School of Law and Associate at the Awoonor Law Consult, stated in his closing address at the reenactment of the Re-Akoto trial that judges must be seen to uphold the principles of the Constitution, and that judicial inconsistency may affect the credibility of the judiciary, citing the Interpretation Act.
He stated that the Interpretation Act should be applied to the Constitution in strict terms.
SRC President Kwasi T. Oppong-Kyekyeku said that the proceedings reflected “our concern as law students over one of the major challenges to justice delivery in Ghana – delays in the adjudication of disputes – and the impact it has on the rule of law.”
The trial commenced in an effort to address the challenges facing the justice delivery system and in support of social relevance and recognition, according to the SRC President.
Quoting the slogan ‘Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied’, Mr Oppong-Kyekyeku recalled for the proceedings to be seen as a step toward dealing with the problems facing the judicial system.
Source: Stephanie F. Miles & Jamila A. Okertchiri/Daily Guide
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