The Executive Director of Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), H. Kwasi Prempeh, has raised concerns over the handling of a Supreme Court case challenging the constitutional foundation of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), warning that recent procedural choices could weaken Ghana’s adversarial justice system.
Commenting on proceedings in Adamtey v Attorney General, Prof. Prempeh argued that the court’s approach effectively prevents the OSP from defending the legality of its own establishment, while maintaining the Attorney General as the formal defendant despite not taking an opposing stance.
The case before the Supreme Court of Ghana seeks to determine whether the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 aligns with Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution, which vests prosecutorial authority in the Attorney General.
Although the OSP is widely seen as having a direct and substantial interest in the matter, Prof. Prempeh contends that denying it the opportunity to participate in its own defence elevates procedural technicalities above substantive justice. He argues that such an approach risk distorting the essence of adversarial litigation, which depends on the presence of genuinely opposing parties.
He further cautioned that the current arrangement could open the door to what he describes as “collusive suits” or “sham cases,” where both the Attorney General and the private plaintiff advance similar legal positions, depriving the court of balanced argumentation.
According to Prof. Prempeh, this development reflects an undue prioritisation of form over substance and departs from established common law traditions of adjudication. He stressed that the integrity of adversarial proceedings hinges on robust contestation between opposing sides, enabling courts to arrive at well-reasoned decisions.
The comments come amid intensifying legal debate over the constitutionality of the OSP’s independent prosecutorial powers, an issue currently under consideration by the Supreme Court in a suit filed by private citizen Noah Ephraem Tetteh Adamtey.
Earlier submissions by the Attorney General have suggested that aspects of the Act may be inconsistent with the Constitution, particularly Article 88, which vests prosecutorial authority in the Attorney General, subject to limited delegation.
