A former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Nii Ayikoi Otoo, has stated that the Chief Justice cannot entirely blame the prosecutors at the Attorney-General's department for delays in prosecuting illegal mining (galamsey) cases.

According to him, several factors must align for a case to proceed in court, including the availability of the judge, prosecutor, defense counsel, interpreters, the accused, and witnesses.

Speaking on Top Story on Wednesday, October 2, Mr Otoo explained that if any of these individuals are unavailable, the case cannot move forward.

“If the prosecutor fails to appear in court, and the defence counsel is ready, the case cannot go on. If the state prosecutor is ready and the defence counsel is not there, the case cannot go on,” he said.

• Read also: Delays in galamsey cases often come from the work of prosecutors – Chief Justice tells AG

His remarks come in response to recent exchanges between the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo and Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame regarding the justice system's failure to expedite the prosecution of those involved in illegal mining.

Currently, over 140 cases, involving more than 850 accused individuals, remain unresolved in the courts.

Mr Dame attributed the delays to judges and urged the Chief Justice to direct them to conclude illegal mining trials within one month from the start of the new legal year on October 10, 2024.

However, Chief Justice Torkonoo pointed fingers at prosecutors within the Attorney-General’s office.

In light of this, Mr Otoo said that in cases requiring interpretation of a local language, particularly Ga, if a witness wishes to give testimony in that language and no interpreter is available, the case must be adjourned.

“You are waiting for a witness to appear in court and the witness fails to appear, or for some reason, the accused person is not well, you will need all these people to be present for cases to proceed and therefore you cannot put the blame only on one party,” he said.

He further noted that in the lower courts, prosecutions are often handled by police prosecutors, not the Attorney-General’s department, making it unfair to place the blame solely on the A-G.

“So you cannot also put all the blame on the A-G’s department. He might have done his work.

“.....Until we’re able to deal with all these matters, we cannot blame only one party. They are all involved,” he added.