Oppong Oppong Nkrumah returns to Supreme Court over legal vacation criminal trials

Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has returned to the Supreme Court seeking to overturn a decision dismissing his application for an interlocutory injunction against the conduct of criminal trials during the ongoing legal vacation.

A single Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, dismissed the MP’s earlier application on August 21, 2026.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah is now asking a three-member panel of the apex court to reverse that decision and grant the injunction he originally sought.

The application forms part of his substantive constitutional challenge to administrative directives issued by the Chief Justice authorising selected High Court judges to sit and conduct criminal trials during the legal vacation.

The current legal vacation runs from August 1 to September 30, 2026.

In his latest application, Mr Oppong Nkrumah argues that Justice Pwamang made a number of errors in dismissing his request for interim relief.

One of the key issues concerns whether the Attorney-General can represent the Chief Justice in a case where the Chief Justice’s administrative actions are themselves being challenged under Articles 23 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution.

The legislator contends that the single Justice erred in dismissing his preliminary objection on the issue.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah also argues that the Chief Justice’s failure to respond to his affidavit or deny his statement of case should have been considered in determining whether the injunction ought to have been granted.

He further contends that Justice Pwamang went beyond the proper scope of an interlocutory application by making findings that, in his view, effectively predetermined substantive constitutional questions reserved for determination by the full bench.

According to him, although the single Justice acknowledged that the substantive constitutional issues were not to be finally determined at the interlocutory stage, aspects of the ruling nevertheless amounted to definitive pronouncements on matters yet to be decided.

He is therefore asking the three-member panel to reconsider the legal approach adopted in dismissing the injunction application.

The Ofoase-Ayirebi MP is also challenging what he considers to be insufficient consideration of the public interest implications of allowing the disputed arrangements to continue.

He argues that serious constitutional questions remain pending before the Court and that allowing the affected criminal trials to proceed could undermine the effectiveness of the substantive case.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah further maintains that the time-sensitive nature of the warrants makes interim relief necessary, particularly because the legal vacation is already underway.

He argues that the balance of convenience favours temporarily restraining implementation of the warrants rather than allowing the affected criminal trials to continue while the substantive constitutional challenge remains unresolved.

He is consequently asking the three-member panel of the Supreme Court to issue an interlocutory injunction restraining the Chief Justice and the designated judges from implementing, enforcing or giving effect to the warrants directing selected High Court judges to sit during the legal vacation and conduct criminal trials.