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PART
IV EXERCISE OF JURISDICTION, EVIDENCE AND RULES OF COURT
62.
(1)
Subject to any enactment or rule of law to the contrary,
a court shall require any witness to be examined on
oath.
(2)
The court may at any time if it thinks just and
expedient for reasons to be recorded in the proceedings,
take without oath the evidence of any person who
declares that the taking of any oath whatsoever is
according to his religious belief unlawful or who by
reason of immature age or want of religious belief ought
not in the opinion of the court to be admitted to give
evidence on oath.
(3)
The fact that the evidence has been taken without
oath shall be recorded in the proceedings and the
evidence taken shall be treated as if it had been taken
on oath.
(4)
Whenever a person, appears in court to give
evidence and -
(a)
refuses to be sworn; or
(b)
having been sworn, refuses without lawful excuse to
answer a question put to him; or
(c)
refuses or neglects to produce any document or thing
which he is required to produce; or
(d)
when lawfully required to do so refuses to sign his
deposition,
without offering any lawful or sufficient excuse for his
refusal or neglect,
that
person shall, independently of any other liability, be
guilty of contempt of court and the court before which
he commits the contempt may deal with him summarily and
sentence him as if he had been convicted of a
misdemeanour.
63.A
person present in court, whether a party or not
in the proceedings before the court may be compelled by
the court to give evidence, or to produce any document
in his possession or under hi s control, in the same
manner and subject to the same rules as if he had been
summoned to attend and give evidence, or to produce the
document, and may be punished in the same manner for
refusal to obey the order of the court.
64.
(1) A Judge, Chairman of a Regional, Circuit or
Community Tribunal may issue a warrant for a prisoner,
or a person in custody to appear as a party or be
examined as a witness, in any proceedings in a Court or
Tribunal.
(2)
A warrant shall not be issued unless the Judge,
Chairman of a Regional, Circuit or Community Tribunal
has probable grounds for believing that the appearance
of the prisoner is necessary or desirable or that his
evidence is likely to be material.
(3)
The Director of Prisons or any other person in
whose custody
the prisoner may be, shall immediately obey the warrant
by bringing the prisoner to the court in his custody, or
by delivering him to an officer of the court as ordered
and if the prisoner, under the terms of the warrant, is
delivered to an officer of the court, the Director or
other person shall not be liable for his escape.
65.
(1) A court may, in any proceedings order and
allow to all persons required to attend, or be examined
as witnesses such sums of money as seem fit both for
defraying their reasonable expenses and for giving them
reasonable compensation for their trouble and loss of
time.
(2) It shall
not be lawful in any proceedings for a person to refuse
to attend as a witness, or to give evidence when so
required by order of the court on the grounds that his
expenses have not first been paid or provided for.
66.
All sums of money allowed under section 65 shall
be paid -
(a)
in
civil proceedings by the party on whose behalf the
witness
is called and shall be recoverable as ordinary costs of
the suit if ordered by the court; or
(b)
in criminal proceedings out of the Consolidated Fund if
not paid by the convicted party or the prosecutor.
67.
Any person who in relation to any proceedings
before a court give, false evidence on a declaration
without oath, commits an offence and shall be convicted
and punished in the same manner as if he had given the
evidence on oath.
68.
In
any proceedings a court may, on the application of
either party or
on
its own motion make an order for the inspection by the
court, the jury, the panel, the parties, or witnesses,
of any movable or immovable property, the inspection of
which may be material to the proper determination of the
question before the court, and the court may give such
directions in respect of the inspection, as it thinks
fit.
69.
(1) In any proceedings before a court the court may
cause oral evidence to be recorded by shorthand, tape
recorder or by such other means as the Chief Justice may
determine.
(2)
The recording shall be done by an officer of the
court or any other person appointed for that purpose.
(3)
A record taken under subsection (1) shall be
transcribed by a person referred to in subsection (2)
and the transcript shall for all purposes be the
official record of the proceedings in question,
(4)
Before any person, other than the Judge, Chairman
of a Regional, Circuit or Community Tribunal, records or
transcribes any evidence under this section, an oath
shall be tendered to and taken by that person for the
accurate and faithful recording of that evidence.
(5)
An officer of the court who has once duly taken
the oath shall not again be required to take the oath in
respect of the same or of any subsequent case,
(6)
The evidence shall be recorded under the
supervision and control of the presiding Judge or
Chairman who may at any time before appending his
signature to the written statement of the evidence amend
,anything in it which he considers requires to be
amended.
(7)
Before signing, the presiding Judge or Chairman
shall examine the statement and satisfy himself that it
is in substance an accurate and faithful record of the
oral evidence given.
(8)
If an officer or other person employed to record
or transcribe evidence under this section wilfully
falsifies or misrepresents the true meaning of any oral
evidence recorded under this section -
(a)
he commits an offence, and is liable on
conviction to a fine not exceeding Ë
I00,000.00 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding
one year or to both; or
(b)
he may be dealt with summarily by the court as
for contempt of court and be sentenced immediately to a
fine not exceeding Ë5O,OOO.OOoratermofimprisonmentnot
exceeding six months.
70.
(1) No person is entitled, to inspect or to have
a copy of the record of evidence given in a case before
a court or to a copy of the court's notes, except as may
be expressly provided by the Constitution, a rule of
court or any other enactment.
(2)
If a person affected by a judgment or a court
order desires to have a copy of the judgment, order,
deposition or other part of the record, he shall on
application for the copy be furnished with it if he pays
its cost except where the court for some special reason
thinks fit to furnish it free of charge.
71.
(1) In every civil or criminal proceedings dealt
with in the High Court, Regional or Circuit Tribunal
,Circuit Court, or Community Tribunal, minutes of the
proceedings shall be drawn up and shall be signed by an
officer of the Court duly authorised by the Judge or
Chairman of the Tribunal.
(2)
The minutes, with the notes of evidence taken at
the hearing or trial including any record of proceedings
taken under section 69 of this Act, shall be preserved
as records of the Court.
(3)
The minutes and notes of evidence including the
record referred to in subsection (2) of this section or
a copy of it signed and certified as a true copy by the
officer referred to in subsection (1) shall at all times
without further proof, be admitted as evidence of the
proceedings and of the statements made by the witnesses.
72.
(1) Any court with civil jurisdiction and its
officers shall promote reconciliation, encourage and
facilitate the settlement of disputes in an amicable
manner between and among persons over whom the court has
jurisdiction.
(1)
When a civil suit or proceeding is pending, any
court with jurisdiction in that suit may promote
reconciliation among the parties, and encourage and
facilitate the amicable settlement of the suit or
proceeding.
73.
Any court, with criminal jurisdiction may promote
reconciliation, encourage and facilitate a settlement in
an amicable manner of any offence not amounting to
felony and not aggravated in degree, on payment of
compensation or on other terms approved by the court
before which the case is tried, and may during the
pendency of the negotiations for a settlement stay the
proceeding for a reasonable time and in the event of a
settlement being effected shall dismiss the case and
discharge the accused person.
74.
(I On an application by the Attonney-General the High
Court may order that no legal proceedings shall be
instituted by a person in any court without its leave if
the person has habitually and persistently without
reasonable ground instituted vexatious legal proceedings
in any court whether against the same person or not.
(2)
The leave of the High Court shall not be given unless it
is satisfied that the proceedings are not an abuse of
court process and that there is prima facie ground for
the proceedings.
75
(I) The High Court may order the examination of a
witness within its jurisdiction on such terms as it
considers necessary when an application is made by a
court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction in another
country for the testimony inrespect of criminal, civil
or commercial matters before that court or tribunal.
(2)
The High Court may order the attendance of the
person before any person named in the order -
(a)
to
be examined on oath, on interrogatories; or
(b)
to
produce specific documents
and
shall give such directions as it thinks fit.
(3)
Any order of the High Court made under this
section may be enforced in the same manner as an order
made in a cause pending in the High Court.
76.
(1) An ambassador, minister, diplomatic agent or
consular officer may issue a certificate that a matter
the subject of an application under section 75 is a
criminal, civil or commercial matter and that the court
or tribunal requires the evidence pending before a court
or tribunal in the country in which he is employed.
(2)
If no certificate under subsection (1) is issued, other
evidence shall be admissible to show that the matter for
which the evidence is required is pending before a court
or tribunal in another country.
77.
A person authorised to take the examination of a
witness by an order made under section 75 of this Act
may take all the, examinations on oath.
78.
Every person whose attendance is required under
section 75 of this Act shall be entitled to the same
allowances as a witness appearing at a trial in the High
Court.
79.
Every
person examined under an order made under section 75 of
this Act shall have the same right to refuse to
answer questions tending to incriminate himself and
other questions as a witness in any cause pending in the
High Court would be entitled to.
(2)
No person shall be compelled to produce under any such
order any writing or other document that he would not be
compellable to produce at a trial of such a cause.
80.
(1)
Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Rules
of court Committee established by article 157 of the
Constitution may in accordance with clause (2) of
article 157 of the Constitution by constitutional
instrument, make Rules of court for regulating the
practice and procedure of all courts in Ghana, which
shall include regulations relating to the prevention of
frivolous and vexatious proceedings.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of
subsection (1) of this section the Rules of Court
Committee may, subject to the provisions of the
Constitution, make rules of court-
(a)
for regulating the practice and procedure of the
Superior Court of Judicature for the purposes of article
33 of the Constitution, (which relates to the protection
of rights by the courts);
(b)
for
the practice and procedure for petitions to the Supreme
Court
challenging the election of a President under article 64
of the Constitution;
(c)
for the practice and procedure of the High Court
of Justice with
respect to the exercise of the jurisdiction conferred on
it by article 99 of the Constitution (which inter alia
relates to the determination of the validity of the
election of a Member of Parliament and of the Speaker of
Parliament);
(d)
for the practice and procedure of the High Court
in respect
of
appeals against a disallowance or charge by the
Auditor-General for the purposes of clause (I 0) of
article 187 of the Constitution;
(e)
for
regulating the award of interest on sums claimed and
Found
by any court to be due and prescribing the rates of such
interest;
for
regulating matters relating to the costs of the
proceedings in court and prescribing fees and allowances
to be paid in respect of any matter relating to the
proceedings of any court;
(g)
for regulating the sittings of the court sand
prescribing the
periods
of the vacations of the courts;
(h)
for
prescribing forms, registers, books, entries and ac-
counts
which may be necessary or desirable for the transaction
of the business of any court.
(3)
The Rules of Court Committee may also make rules
-
(a)
for the practice and procedure for the removal of
a President under article 69 of the Constitution;
(b)
For regulating the practice and procedure of
inquiries conducted before a Commission of. Inquiry for
the purposes of clause (2) of article 281 of the
Constitution and for regulating the practice and
procedure of any committee or other body of inquiry
appointed by the
Government
or established under any enactment; and
(c)
regarding any matter in relation to which the
Rules of
Court
Committee is authorised or required by any enactment to
make rules.
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