Supreme Court Adjourns Justice Dery�s Case Sine Die

The Supreme Court has adjourned indefinitely, the case in which Justice Paul Uuter Dery is seeking to quash the investigative processes to remove him from office, initiated by Journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

The adjournment followed a request by the Attorney General (AG), who is a respondent in the case to be allowed more time to prepare to file an affidavit in opposition of the application.

Graphic Online’s reporter Seth J. Bokpe who was in court on Tuesday morning said the Supreme Court has given the AG seven days to file the affidavit.
The five-member panel was presided by Justice Julius Ansah. Other members of the panel were Justices Baffoe Bonney, Anin Yeboah, Anthony Alfred Benneh and Joseph Bawa Akamba.

Background

Justice Paul Uuter Dery, one out of 12 High Court judges seen in Anas’ undercover video allegedly taking bribe took his case to the Supreme Court, seeking a declaration that the petition filed by Anas Aremeyaw Anas for his removal was null and void.

He is arguing that the publication of Tiger Eye’s Petition to the President in the media, as well as the public screening at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) of the evidence (video), and the Judicial Council's naming of the Judges involved in the “Bribery Scandal” in a press release on September 11, 2015, contravened Article 146 (8) of the 1992 Constitution and therefore unconstitutional.

Article 146 (8) which deals with the removal of a Justice states that, "All proceedings under this article shall be held in camera, and the Justice or Chairman against whom the petition is made is entitled to be heard in his defence by himself or by a lawyer or other expert of his choice."

Taking a cue from that, Justice Dery therefore wants the apex court to declare that all proceedings initiated by the Chief Justice arising out of the contents of the Petition were null and void.