Former Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame says he will not participate in proceedings scheduled during the legal vacation in the case involving former National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer Hanan Abdul-Hamid, insisting that the decision to hear the matter during the court's vacation period goes against established legal practice.

Mr Dame, who is representing Abdul-Hamid, made the remarks after appearing in court on Monday, August 17, where his legal team sought to convince the court to halt proceedings pending the determination of a motion already filed at the Court of Appeal.

According to him, the court indicated that it would first wait for a ruling from the Supreme Court before allowing his team to argue its application for a stay of proceedings.

"We came today first to satisfy the court on why most of the proceedings we have filed long before all these controversies and issues came up should warrant the court halting proceedings pending the determination of that motion pending at the Court of Appeal," he explained his presence in court.

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Mr Dame maintained that he would not make himself available for any proceedings conducted during the legal vacation.

"Yes, indeed, I'm not going to be available. As a matter of fact, I'm not going to be available, and it's in keeping with the position I've taken all along that we do not attend trials in the vacation except by personal agreement between the parties," he stated.

He argued that, throughout his more than 20 years of legal practice, he had never witnessed a situation in which an accused person or litigant was compelled to attend a trial during the legal vacation.

The former Attorney General questioned the urgency surrounding the case, insisting that there was no emergency that justified the court's decision.

"What was the basis for the urgency? There's no emergency about this matter," he said.

He explained that, in his experience, courts only sat during the legal vacation in exceptional circumstances, particularly in election-related cases where urgent constitutional issues had to be resolved.

Mr Dame cited a 2012 case involving the Electoral Commission, which he handled alongside a former Attorney General, as an example of a matter that warranted proceedings during the vacation period.

He further argued that applications seeking a stay of proceedings are common and have been granted in previous cases.

According to him, courts have, in the past, suspended proceedings while applications for a stay were being considered.