Power outage turns fast track court to slow track court
Gilbert Boyefio
05/05/2007
The legal parlance that justice delayed is justice denied, made inevitable the setting up of the Fast Track Court to speed up cases brought before it.
However, the load shedding being undertaken by the Volta River Authority with its attendant frequent power outages have rendered the Fast Track Court to become Slow Track Court.
It's yet more evidence that the ongoing energy crisis has not only affected businesses in the country but has also impacted the administration of justice.
Notable amongst the cases that have been affected by this phenomenon were the contempt case brought against the Attorney General, the Republic versus Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and the numerous cocaine trials.
Last Thursday for instance, a Fast Track High Court had to postpone for the second time the cocaine trial of Kwabina "Tagor" Amaning and Alhaji Issah Abass due to the power outage.
"It is unfortunate we cannot do any business today, I have been informed that since Monday part of the Supreme Court have not had power," the trial judge told a very expectant courtroom.
Disappointment could be seen written on the faces of the defence Counsel, which was made up of Ellis Owusu Fordjour and Gabby Asare-Otchere Darko, for Tagor and Mohammed Attah and Osarfo Buabeng for Abass, when it became apparent that the case would be postponed. Detective inspector Charles Adaba, the seventh prosecution witness, was also expected to be cross-examined by Mr. Buabeng.
The judge, Justice Jones Dotse, however, proposed a compromised to the situation. He suggested to both the prosecution and defence counsel that the court"s uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) be taken to another place for charging to enable it to be used yesterday for at least two hours. This was quickly accepted by both parties, who seemed frustrated by the circumstance but all the same poised for action.
05/05/2007
The legal parlance that justice delayed is justice denied, made inevitable the setting up of the Fast Track Court to speed up cases brought before it.
However, the load shedding being undertaken by the Volta River Authority with its attendant frequent power outages have rendered the Fast Track Court to become Slow Track Court.
It's yet more evidence that the ongoing energy crisis has not only affected businesses in the country but has also impacted the administration of justice.
Notable amongst the cases that have been affected by this phenomenon were the contempt case brought against the Attorney General, the Republic versus Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and the numerous cocaine trials.
Last Thursday for instance, a Fast Track High Court had to postpone for the second time the cocaine trial of Kwabina "Tagor" Amaning and Alhaji Issah Abass due to the power outage.
"It is unfortunate we cannot do any business today, I have been informed that since Monday part of the Supreme Court have not had power," the trial judge told a very expectant courtroom.
Disappointment could be seen written on the faces of the defence Counsel, which was made up of Ellis Owusu Fordjour and Gabby Asare-Otchere Darko, for Tagor and Mohammed Attah and Osarfo Buabeng for Abass, when it became apparent that the case would be postponed. Detective inspector Charles Adaba, the seventh prosecution witness, was also expected to be cross-examined by Mr. Buabeng.
The judge, Justice Jones Dotse, however, proposed a compromised to the situation. He suggested to both the prosecution and defence counsel that the court"s uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) be taken to another place for charging to enable it to be used yesterday for at least two hours. This was quickly accepted by both parties, who seemed frustrated by the circumstance but all the same poised for action.
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