Saturday

November 23rd , 2024

FOLLOW US
pc

Nana Kay

A year ago

COURT HEARINGS ARE DELAYED BY JURORS' "STRIKE"

featured img
News

A year ago



On Monday, April 17, jurors went on strike, which halted several court hearings at the High Courts housed inside the Law Court Complex in Accra.




The strike had an impact on a number of cases, including those involving the 14 defendants accused of killing Major Maxwell Adam Mahama and the two youths accused of killing an 11-year-old kid in Kasoa.



The Daily Graphic was informed by a source that the reason the jurors went on strike was because the government had been delinquent in paying them various allowances for more than a year.


Strike



One of the seven jurors in the trial of the 14 defendants did not appear, thus the presiding judge, Justice Mariama Owusu, a Justice of the Supreme The case will be continued until May 8, 2019, with one extra High Court judge sitting in the court.


Due to the absence of two jurors in the Kasoa child murder case, the trial was postponed till the following day. Justice Lydia Marfo, the presiding judge, issued a reminder to the absent jurors to be in court for the trial's continuation.


Five of the seven jurors failed to appear for the trial in another case before Justice Marfo.



According to the Criminal and Other Offenses (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30), all of the jurors must be present before a jury trial may begin.


Although not all of the jurors had joined the strike, a source informed the Daily Graphic that it was nevertheless effective since, according to the law, the absence of one juror would halt court proceedings.


Judge Marfo stated that she had not received any official notification to the effect that the jurors had started a strike when she ordered the jurors to present themselves in court for the continuation of the trial.


Judge Marfo questioned the jurors in the youngsters' case as to why, as freshly appointed jurors, they had joined their colleagues' strike action.


As a result, the sitting judge gave the registrar of the court the mandate to write to the superiors of the absentee jurors and request that they produce the jurors.


Judge Marfo commanded, "They should come and show cause why they failed to appear in court for a hearing when they knew they should be in court today."


jury process


For crimes that are tried after an indictment, Ghana uses the jury system. These offenses include first-degree crimes like rape, manslaughter, and drug possession, as well as capital offenses like murder.




According to the jury system, the jury decides whether an accused person is guilty of the crime with which they have been charged based on the evidence provided in court, and the judge then sentences the defendant based on the jury's decision.


In Ghana, juries are made up of seven people chosen at random from a list that is primarily, if not entirely, composed of the people who failed to appear in court for a hearing when they knew they should be in court today."


jury process


For crimes that are tried after an indictment, Ghana uses the jury system. These offenses include first-degree crimes like rape, manslaughter, and drug possession, as well as capital offenses like murder.




According to the jury system, the jury decides whether an accused person is guilty of the crime with which they have been charged based on the evidence provided in court, and the judge then sentences the defendant based on the jury's decision.


In Ghana, juries are made up of seven people chosen at random from a list that is primarily, if not entirely,

Total Comments: 0

Meet the Author


PC
Nana Kay

Blogger

follow me

INTERSTING TOPICS


Connect and interact with amazing Authors in our twitter community