Suame MP John Darko has criticised suggestions that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) must seek the Attorney-General’s approval for every criminal case it prosecutes.

The legal counsel of the Minority caucus in Parliament described such an interpretation as “absurd.”

His comments come amid ongoing legal debate following a recent High Court ruling that questioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor's independent prosecutorial authority.

According to him, the legal framework establishing the OSP does not require continuous or case-by-case authorisation from the Attorney-General for prosecutions to proceed.

He warned that interpreting the law to demand approval for every individual case would undermine the purpose for which the OSP was created.

“If we interpret this to mean that for every criminal case the OSP must seek approval, that would be so absurd and would defeat the purpose of the independence of the OSP,” he said.

Mr Darko stressed that the law must be read in context rather than in isolation to fully appreciate Parliament's intent in establishing the anti-corruption body.

He further indicated that during the passage of the law establishing the OSP, the issue of prosecutorial authority had already been considered, with the understanding that the office would operate with a level of independence once duly authorised.

“When the law was passed, this question was asked, and the interpretation given at the time was that there is a one-time authorisation for the setup of the office,” he explained.

The Suame MP maintained that requiring repeated approvals would create unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles and weaken the effectiveness of the OSP in tackling corruption-related offences.