On Tuesday morning I went to the
Cocoa Affairs Court. Disappointingly, this is not the court which rules on all things chocolate; instead, it contains
divisions of the Circuit and High Courts.
The name comes from the buildings in which the courts are housed, which
once used to hold the Ministry of Cocoa Affairs. The (now) court buildings are colonial-era and
made of wood, with verandahs and outside staircases. Despite being obviously rickety, and no doubt a fire hazard, they are
rather beautiful and I was sad to learn that they will soon be knocked down.
 |
| Cocoa Affairs Court, Accra |
 |
| Cocoa Affairs Court, Accra |
I was there to spend a morning in
the Gender-Based Violence Court, which sits on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This court was established in 1998 to deal
with cases involving domestic violence and sexual offences. In the two or so hours that the court sat, I
watched seven different cases. A few
general points of interest and/or comparison:
·
Each case has a defendant and a
complainant. Slightly confusingly, the
complainant is not (or not necessarily) the same person as the victim: the
complainant is the person who brought the matter to police attention. The complainant is expected to be present at each hearing;
· The layout of the court is such that the defendant
and complainant (if the latter is giving evidence) stand in two witness boxes
between the bench and the bar. The effect
of this is that when they are being questioned, counsel stands behind them,
addressing their backs;
· The demeanour of counsel is more demonstrative
than would be seen in a UK court, with finger-jabbing and a more aggressive
tone of voice used.
There were a couple of cases which stood out, for different
reasons. The first was an application
for bail for a defendant charged with defilement of his stepdaughter. The defence counsel began his application by
saying that the defendant should be granted bail "as a responsible family man"...!
He also promised that the defendant would “endeavour” to fulfil his bail
requirements, a submission that I admired for its realism. The application was,
perhaps unsurprisingly, unsuccessful.
The second case which was particularly notable involved a German
defendant accused of a sexual offence.
As this news story shows, his case had already been adjourned once due
to the lack of a German interpreter:
Unfortunately, there was no interpreter on Monday either – I
know this because I was asked if I was she.
I spent Tuesday afternoon at the offices of Sam Okudzeto and
Associates working on a case about disputed interest payments. It has been going on for several years, which means that legal fees will be many times greater than any eventual
award. I have to agree with Kwame from
the Volta River Authority, who said on Monday that his advice to any client is “don’t
go to court”.
No comments:
Post a Comment