Former Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah has explained that judges can hear substantive cases during legal vacation, but said lawyers involved in such cases must first be consulted and have no objection to the arrangement.

His comments come amid a growing debate over the decision to allow selected cases to proceed during the current legal vacation, particularly proceedings involving former National Signals Bureau (NSB) Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahen and former National Food and Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer Hanan Abdul-Wahab.

Speaking on JoyNews' The Pulse, Mr Tuah-Yeboah said the practice of having judges sit during legal vacation predates Ghana’s independence and is intended primarily to deal with urgent matters.

He explained that vacation judges traditionally handle applications such as bail, injunctions, probate, letters of administration and other urgent proceedings rather than substantive trials involving the taking of evidence and cross-examination of witnesses.

According to him, however, there is an established procedure where a judge wishes to hear a substantive matter during the vacation.

“Vacation judges have not been [hearing] substantive matters, that is, taking evidence and then allowing counsel to cross-examine witnesses,” he explained on Wednesday, August 12.

Mr Tuah-Yeboah said where a judge intends to proceed with a substantive case during the vacation, the lawyers involved are normally consulted.

“If a vacation judge is minded to hear substantive matters during vacation, the lawyers in the matter are always consulted, and if they have no objection, then a warrant is secured, and then the matter is heard during legal vacation,” he said.

He therefore identified the absence of consultation with lawyers as the key concern in the current controversy.

“In this particular instance, we are told that the lawyers were not involved in the decision to hear the matter during the legal vacation. And that’s where the problem is,” he said.

Mr Tuah-Yeboah stressed that his position does not challenge the authority of the Chief Justice to authorise judges to sit during the legal vacation.

Rather, he argued that the established practice requires the lawyers involved in substantive cases to be part of the decision before such proceedings are scheduled.

His comments come as Samuel Atta Akyea, lead counsel for former National Signals Bureau Director, Kwabena Adu-Boahene and wife, was absent in court on Tuesday despite a directive that trial is to continue during the legal vacation.

Deputy Attorney General Dr Justice Srem-Sai has argued that lawyers cannot unilaterally refuse to appear before Vacation Courts, maintaining that selected judges have the authority to conduct both interlocutory and substantive proceedings during the period.

Mr Tuah-Yeboah's position, however, is that while substantive hearings can take place during the vacation, the participation and consent of counsel involved form part of the established practice for such hearings.