The principle of natural justice which says that all persons involved in a case should be given a fair hearing is an important aspect of the justice system, Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, Kwame Andy Appiah Kubi has said.
To that end, he said the High Court should have allowed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to make its case before pronouncing judgment in the case of the recollation for some of the constituencies.
Appiah Kubi, a private legal practitioner, commended the Supreme Court for their decision on the High Court ruling on the recollation in some constituencies.
“The Supreme Court did a good job…the high court ought to have allowed the NDC to make their case,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, December 28.
He stressed “I commend the Supreme Court for the direction given now. The audi alteram partem, or hear the other side is a universal principle which God even applied in the Garden of Eden.”
The Supreme Court has ordered the Accra High Court to reconsider the mandamus application of the National Democratic Congress regarding 4 constituencies whose results are under dispute.
They were Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central and Techiman South.
In a 5-0 unanimous decision the Apex court indicated that the presiding Judge hearing the case should have given the legal representation of the NDC a hearing on their application to be joined to the NPP’s mandamus application since they were an interested party that would’ve been affected by the ruling.
The NDC is challenging a High Court ruling that directed the Electoral Commission (EC) to re-collate parliamentary election results in nine disputed constituencies.
Aggrieved parliamentary candidates from both the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had filed a writ, seeking to compel the EC to hold fresh elections in these constituencies.
They cited anomalies in the collation of results and the subsequent declaration of winners.
Presiding Judge Joseph Adu Owusu Agyeman, in his ruling on Friday, December 20, ordered the EC to proceed with the re-collation of the results in the Ablekuma North constituency.
This ruling was made despite objections from NDC legal representatives, led by Godwin Edudzi Tameklo. Both lawyers argued that the results of the constituencies had already been declared, but the court determined that anomalies in the process warranted the re-collation.
Source:
3news.com
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