Attorney General need not give any reason for discontinuation of cases – Ansah-Asare


 

A former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has defended the Attorney General’s authority to discontinue cases without providing reasons.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM's Newsnight on Wednesday, February 12, he stated that the law does not require such explanations.

“When the Attorney General enters a nolle prosequi, he thereby expresses his unwillingness—or the unwillingness of the Office of the Attorney General—to prosecute any case. Once the Attorney General enters a nolle prosequi, that terminates further proceedings, and he need not assign any reason. That is the law,” Mr Ansa-Asare asserted.

Read also: Full Text: Read Attorney-General’s justification for discontinuing high-profile cases

His comment follows the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine's recent justification for the withdrawal of high-profile cases, which has sparked public debate over prosecutorial discretion and accountability in Ghana’s legal system.

Mr Ansa-Asare indicated that the Attorney General does not have to bow to public pressure or justify the decision, adding that assigning reasons could create unnecessary complications.

“The law, as we inherited it on 24th July 1874, has not been modified. The Attorney General need not give any reasons.

"Once he embarks on assigning reasons, he is going to find himself in all sorts of trouble. He doesn’t have to,” he reiterated.



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