The Legislative Instrument (LI) on the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Office of the Special Prosecutor Regulations, 2018, has finally been laid in Parliament.
The Legislative Instrument was laid by the Minister for Defence and Member of Parliament for Bimbilla, Mr. Dominic Bingab Aduna Nitiwul on behalf of the Attorney General on Monday, November 26, 2018.
The Plenary referred the document to the Subsidiary Legislation Committee for deliberations and presentation of its report to the House, for debate and adoption.
The Legislative Instrument will thereafter, mature and become a law after 21 working days in Parliament.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor Regulations, 2018 is crucial for the Office of the Special Prosecutor as it will prescribe the procedure for reporting corruption to the Special Prosecutor and how corruption-related cases should be handled and convictions secured.
Furthermore, The Office of the Special Prosecutor Regulations, 2018 will prescribe the manner for tracing tainted property; prescribe the procedure for declaration of property and income; prescribe the procedure for the seizure of tainted property; prescribe the procedure for the management of assets seized under the Act among others.
It will again define the scope of operations for the Office and what will be legally acceptable by the Office to do, in prosecuting its agenda.
Office of the Special Prosecutor and prosecutions
The Special Prosecutor’s Office, which is established under the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act 2017 (Act 959), is one of the highest priorities of government.
The Bill was assented five days to the first anniversary of the NPP government and Mr. Martin Amidu was subsequently appointed to head the Office.
However, almost a year after creation of the Office, no case has been filed in court by the Special Prosecutor who has on many occasions complained about the lack of resources and a law to regularise his duties.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
