Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo has issued new guidelines for Registrars and Court Bailiffs on the proper procedures for serving court documents to key officials within Parliament, specifically targeting the Speaker of Parliament, Clerk of Parliament, and Members of Parliament (MPs).
According to the directive from the Chief Justice, court processes intended for the Speaker of Parliament are to be served to the Legal Department of the Parliamentary Service, and exclusively on Mondays during standard working hours.
For processes intended for the Clerk of Parliament, they should be delivered directly to the Clerk between 0700 and 0800 hours on Mondays, or any weekday from Tuesday to Friday, including during parliamentary recess periods.
The Clerk is also required to provide the Judiciary with Parliament’s recess schedule to ensure compliance.
As for Members of Parliament, the circular specifies that court processes should be served to MPs directly, between 0700 and 0800 hours on Mondays, or on weekdays from Tuesday to Friday, including during recess.
These updated procedures address concerns raised by Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, who highlighted breaches of Articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution.
He noted instances where court documents were served on the Speaker, Clerk, and MPs while they were attending official duties in Parliament, potentially disrupting parliamentary business.
Article 117 of the Constitution stipulates: “Civil or criminal process coming from any court or place out of Parliament shall not be served on, or executed in relation to, the Speaker or a member or the Clerk of Parliament while he is on his way to, attending at, or returning from any proceedings of Parliament.”
Similarly, Article 118(1) provides that “Neither the Speaker, nor a member of, nor the Clerk to Parliament shall be compelled while attending Parliament to appear as a witness in any court or place out of Parliament.”
Article 118(2) further emphasizes that “The certificate of the Speaker that a member or the Clerk is attending the proceedings of Parliament is conclusive evidence of attendance at Parliament.”
The circular reinforces that Articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution protect parliamentary officials from being served court documents or compelled to appear in court as witnesses while Parliament is in session.
The only exceptions are when Parliament is not in session or when the Speaker certifies that the official in question was not engaged in parliamentary proceedings.
