Former Deputy Attorney General has questioned the basis of the Deputy Attorney General’s claim that Samuel Atta Akyea, lead counsel for former National Signals Bureau Director Kwabena Adu-Boahene and his wife, Angela Adjei Boateng, had not formally written to the court to explain his inability to appear during the legal vacation.

Mr Alfred Tuah-Yeboah said that, as a matter of practice, a lawyer who is unable to attend court formally communicates that decision to the judge through the court’s registrar.

His comments follow claims by Mr Atta Akyea that he had formally written to the judge explaining why he could not attend court during the legal vacation and requesting that proceedings be postponed until the end of the vacation.

However, the Deputy Attorney General reportedly said no such letter had been written to the judge, arguing instead that the communication had been sent to the Office of the Attorney General, which considered the reason given by Mr Atta Akyea to be frivolous.

Mr Tuah-Yeboah challenged that account, insisting that the appropriate channel for such communication is through the registrar of the court.

“You write to the judge through his registrar. It doesn't get to him directly. It gets to the registrar. So where is the Deputy Attorney getting information from? Has he spoken to a court registrar to find out whether indeed he has received such a letter?” he asked.

According to him, the registrar is the appropriate person to confirm whether a lawyer’s correspondence has been received on behalf of a judge.

“The registrar is who can say, yes, we've not received any letter,” he stated.

Mr Tuah-Yeboah further described claims about the registrar not receiving the letter as “rich and very curious”, arguing that such matters should be clarified by officials of the Judicial Service rather than inferred by political or executive actors.

He insisted that where there is uncertainty over whether a communication has been formally received by the court, the appropriate approach is to verify the matter directly with the court registrar.

“It doesn't work with the Judicial Service. So you can ask people from the Judicial Service. They should speak for themselves,” he added.