THE SUPREME COURT (AMENDMENT)
RULES, 2012
C I. 74
IN EXERCISE
of the powers conferred on the
Rules of Court Committee by
clause (4) of article 33, clause
(3) of article 64 and clause (2)
of article 157 of the
Constitution, these Rules are
made this 9th day of January,
2012.
Amendment
of C.1. 16
1. The
Supreme Court Rules, 1996 C.1.
16 as amended by the Supreme
Court (Amendment) Rules, 1999 (C.I
24), is hereby amended,
(a) by
substituting for Part VIII, the
following new Part VIII:
"PART VITI-CHALLENGE
OF ELECTION OF PRESIDENT
Petition
for challenge
68. (1) A
proceeding pursuant to clause
(1) of article 64 of the
Constitution shall be commenced
by presenting to the Registrar a
petition in the Form 30 set out
in Part V of the Schedule.
(2) The
petition shall be presented
within twenty-one days after the
declaration of the results of
the election in respect of which
the petition is presented.
(3) The
petition shall state
(a)
the full name and particulars of
the citizenship of the
petitioner, and how the
citizenship was acquired,
(b) the residential and
the electronic and the
telegraphic address, where
available, of the petitioner,
and the business address of
counsel for the petitioner,
where the petitioner is
represented by counsel,
(c) the grounds for
challenging the validity of the
election,
(d)
the facts relied on, to be
verified by an affidavit, and
the law in support of the
petition,
(e)
the number of witnesses to be
called, and
(f)
any other matters that the Court
may determine. (4) The petition
shall be divided into paragraphs
and numbered consecutively.
(5) Each of
the paragraphs shall be confined
to a distinct portion of the
petition.
(6) The
petition shall conclude by
setting out the reliefs sought
by the petitioner.
Mode of
presentation
68A.
(1) A petition shall be filed
with the Registrar within
twentyone days of the
declaration of the results of
the election in respect of which
the petition is presented.
(2) The
petitioner shall provide not
less than seven copies of the
petition for the use of the
Justices of the Court and for
service on all of the
respondents and on the Electoral
Commission, unless the Electoral
Commission is a respondent in
the proceedings.
(3) The
petitioner, at the time of
presenting the petition, shall
pay the relevant fee and deposit
as set out in the Civil
Proceedings (Fees and
Allowances) Rules, 2003 (C.I.
43).
Service
68B.
(1) The Registrar shall, as soon
as practicable after the filing
of the petition, serve a copy on
each of the respondents, on the
Electoral Commission, unless the
Electoral Commission is a
respondent in the proceedings.
(2) The
service of document referred to
in subrule (I) on a respondent,
is personal service except as
provided in subrules (4) and
(5).""
(3) Where an
order for substituted service is
not made under subrule (5), the
Registrar shall post on the
notice board of the Court a copy
of the petition, and shall
publish, at the cost of the
petitioner, a copy of the
petition in two daily newspapers
with nationwide coverage.
(4) Where
personal service on a respondent
cannot be effected within two
days from the date of the
acceptance of the petition, the
petitioner shall make an
application to the Court
supported by an affidavit,
stating that reasonable efforts
have been made to effect
personal service on the
respondent but without success.
(5) The Court
on being satisfied, on an
application made under subrule
(4), that reasonable efforts
have been made to effect
personal service on the
respondent but without success,
shall make an order specifying
the mode of service.
Respondent's address for service
69.
(1) A respondent on whom a
petition is served shall, within
three days after service of the
petition, file in the Form 31
set out in Part V of the
Schedule, a notice of appearance
personally or by counsel and
shall, in the notice of
appearance, give particulars of
the address of the respondent
and the business address of
counsel for the respondent.
(2) Where the
respondent fails to comply with
subrule (1), the Registrar shall
post the subsequent documents
relating to the' proceedings and
intended for the respondent on
the notice board of the Court.
(3) For the
purposes of these Rules, the
posting of the documents on the
notice board of the Court
constitutes sufficient service
on the respondent.
Respondents' answer and
preliminary objection
69A.
(1) A respondent who wants to
oppose the petition
(a)
shall, within ten days
after the petition is served,
file an answer to the petition,
and
(b)
may, in the answer, raise a
preliminary objection.
(2) The
answer shall contain a statement
of the facts on which the
respondent intends to rely,
verified by an affidavit, and
for the answer as well as for
the preliminary objection, state
the law in support of the legal
arguments to be relied on.
(3) The
respondent shall provide not
less than seven copies of the
answer for the use of the
Justices of the Court and for
service
(a) on
all of the parties,
(b)
on any other respondent
or person as directed by the
Court, and
(c) on
the Electoral Commission, unless
the Electoral Commission is a
respondent in the proceedings.
(3) The Registrar shall, as soon
as practicable, after the filing
of the answer by the respondent,
serve a copy on the petitioner,
the Electoral Commission and on
any other person as directed by
the Court.
(4) The
respondent may apply to the
Court for further and better
particulars of the petition on
filing the answer(5) The
petitioner shall, subject to the
directions of the Court, supply
the particulars requested under
subrule (4) before the date set
for the hearing of the petition.
Electronic
service
69B.
(1) A document required to be
served under this Part may be
sent electronically.
(2) Where a
document is served
electronically, a hard copy of .
the document shall be sent to
the Registrar for verification
purposes.
Hearing
69C.
(1) Where the petition and
answer are duly served and the
application for further and
better particulars has been
determined, the Court shall hear
the petition within fifteen days
after due service of the
petition on the respondent.
(2) The
Registrar shall give notice of
the time and place of the
hearing, within forty-eight
hours of the Court fixing the
date for the hearing of the
petition,
(a) by posting up the
notice on the notice board of
the Court, and
(b) by sending a copy
of the notice to each party to
the proceedings, and the
Electoral Commission, unless the
Electoral Commission is a
respondent in the proceedings
(3) Subject
to the Constitution and any
other enactment" the hearing of
a petition shall take place in
open court and the Court is duly
constituted by not less than
five Justices of the Court.
(4) The Court
shall inquire into and determine
the petition expeditiously and
shall give its decision not
later than fifteen days from the
close of hearing.
(5) The Court
shall sit from day to day,
including Saturdays, Sundays and
public holidays.
(6) The
Registry of the Court shall stay
open on Saturdays, Sundays and
public holidays to facilitate
the filing and service of
documents connected with the
proceedings on the petition.
(7) The Court
may, in exceptional cases, on an
application by a party to a
petition or of its own motion,
adjourn the hearing of a
petition.
(8) With the
leave of the Court, a person who
has sworn to an affidavit which
is before the Court may be
cross-examined by the opposing
party and re-examined by the
party on behalf of whom the
affidavit is sworn.
(9) The Court
may examine a witness or call
and examine or recall a witness
if the Court is of the opinion
that the evidence of the witness
is likely to assist the Court to
arrive at a just decision.
(10) A person
summoned as witness by the Court
may be crossexamined by the
parties to the petition.
Consolidation of petition
70.
Where two or more petitions are
presented in relation to the
same election, the Court may
direct that some or all of the
petitions be dealt with as one
petition.
Extension
or abridgment of time
70A.
The Court may, of its own motion
or on an oral application by a
party to the proceedings, extend
or abridge the time appointed by
these Rules for the doing of an
act if the justice of the case
so requires, or there exist
special circumstances which make
it expedient to do so.
Death of
petitioner
70B.
(1) A petition does not abate on
the death of a sole petitioner
or on the death of the survivor
of two or more petitioners.
(2) On being
satisfied as to the death of a
sole petitioner or the survivor
of several petitioners, the
Registrar shall post a notice of
the death on the notice board of
the Court and, as soon as
possible, publish the
information of the death in two
daily newspapers with nationwide
coverage.
Death of
respondent
71.
Where the respondent to a
petition dies, the petition does
not abate on that ground and the
hearing of the petition shall
continue.
Withdrawal
of petition
7IA
(1) A petitioner shall not
withdraw a petition unless with
the leave of the Court and after
due notice has been given as
directed by the Court. (2) Where
there are more than one
petitioner, an application for
leave to withdraw the petition
shall not be made without the
consent in writing of the other
petitioners.
(3) An
application for leave to
withdraw a petition shall be
supported by an affidavit.
No review
7IB
Rule 55 does not apply to a
decision of the Court in respect
of a petition presented to
challenge the election of a
President.";
(b) by
inserting in the appropriate
alphabetical order the following
definitions:
''''answer''
means the reply to a petition in
opposition to the petition;
"election"
means a presidential election
conducted under article 63 of
the Constitution and to which a
petition relates; "Electoral
Commission" means the Electoral
Commission established by
article 43 of the Constitution;
"petition"
includes an election petition
and the affidavit required by
these Rules to support the
petition;
"Registrar"
means the Registrar of the
Supreme Court;
"respondent"
includes the person whose
election is challenged by a
petition and the Electoral
Commission where the petitioner
complains of the conduct of the
Electoral Commission," ;
(c) by
adding at the end of the Form 29
of the Schedule, the following
Part V:
PART V
ELECTION PETITION FORMS FORM 30
THE SUPREME COURT OF THE
REPUBLIC OF GHANA
SUPREME COURT RULES, 1996 (C.1.
16)
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION PETITION
Presidential
Election held on the ..... day
of
...............................
20 .... .
The
petition of AB of
.........................................
(or of AB of
.............................................
and
CD
of..
................................................................
) whose name(s) is
(or are)
stated at the foot of this
petition.
(1) The
petitioner(s) states (state)
that at the election AB, KT, MY,
were candidates and the
Electoral Commission has
returned AB as validly elected.
(2) The
petitioner(s) says (say) that
(here state grounds relied on by
the petitioner(s).
Therefore
your petitioner(s) prays (pray)
that the Supreme Court declares
(a) that AB was not
validly elected, and
(b)
that KT was validly elected;
(c)
Dated this
.............................
day of
................................
20 ...... signed
address for
service is . . .. . . .. ..
................................
occupier ............. .
The name(s) of
my (or our) counsel is (are)
...........................
.
I am (or we are)
acting for myself or (ourselves)
................... .
The addresses of
the respondent(s) is (are)
.......................... .
Signed:
.
N.B. The
petition must be accompanied
with an affidavit setting out
the facts on which the petition
is based.
FORM 31
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF
GHANA
THE
SUPREME COURT RULES 1996
(C.I.I6)
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PETITION
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE
NOTICE is hereby given that the
Respondent(s) has (have) on
this
............. day ……………………………
filed in the Registry of
the Supreme
Court notice of appearance in
respect of the petition of
......................................................................................
numbered as
Suit No
............................. .
……………………………..
Respondent( s)
FORM 32
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF
THE
REPUBLIC OF GHANA
SUPREME
COURT RULES 1996 (C.I.16)
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PETITION
NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL
NOTICE is
hereby given that the petition
of.. ........................ .
........
............................................
of ...........................
filed in the
Registry
ofthe Supreme Court on the
.................... .
day of
..................................................................
and numbered
Suit No
.................... .
is with the
leave of the Court hereby
withdrawn.
……………………………….
Signed
(d) by
substituting in the Arrangement
of Rules for "Part VIII-
CHALLENGE
OF ELECTION OF PRESIDENT" the
following:
"PART VIII - CHALLENGE OF
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT"
68. Petition
for challenge
68A. Mode of
presentation
68B. Service
69.
Respondents address for service
69A.
Respondent's answer
69B.
Electronic service
69C Hearing
70
Consolidation of petition.
70A.
Extension or abridgement of time
70B. Death
of petitioner
71 Death of
respondent
. 71A
Withdrawal of petition
71B No
review".
The Han.
Mrs. Georgina T. Wood
The
Chief Justice
The Han.
Martin A. B. K. Amidu
The
Attorney-General and Minister
for Justice
The Han.
Justice S. A. B. Akuffo
Justice
of the Supreme Court
The Han.
Justice J. B. Akamba
Justice
of the Court of Appeal, Accra
The Han.
Justice E. K. Mensah
Justice
of the High Court, Accra
Col.
Mahama Iddrisu
Ministry of Defence,
Cantonments, Accra
D. R. K.
Sankah, Esq,
Editor,
Council for Law Reporting, Accra
Vincent
Kizito Beyuo Esq,
Beyuo
Jumu & Co. Fountain
Chambers, No. 153 South La
Estates La, Accra
Miss
Hamida Nuhu
Kulendi
@ Law, No. 10 Narku Ipan
Street Airport - Accra
Date of Gazette
notification: 14th August, 2012
Entry into force: 28th
September, 2012
GPCLI ASSEMBLY PRESS, ACCRA.
GPCLI A806/350/11l2012
Website.:
www.ghanapublishingcompany.com
E-mail:
ip.fo@ghanapublishingcompany.com
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