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Live coverage of election petition: Pratt accuses CJ of illegality; Baako dismisses claim

The Managing editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt has criticised Chief Justice, Georgina Wood for engaging in an “illegality” by undermining “the judgment of the nine judges” not to permit live telecast of the election petition case being heard by the Supreme Court.
But Managing editor of the New crusading Guide newspaper, Kweku Baako has dismissed his claim as a distortion.
Mr. Pratt condemned Justice Georgina Wood on Radio Gold’s “Alhaji & Alhaji” for using a “mere administrative feat” to overturn a “legal ruling of the justices”.
He vehemently chastised the action of Justice Georgina Wood because her action, according to him, undermined the powers of the nine other justices of the Supreme Court.
He also condemned the bi-partisan support of the Chief Justice’s “ruling” as parochial.
Not a ruling
But in an interview with Myjoyonline.com, Kweku Baako brushed off of Mr Pratt’s criticism as a “distortion” and “unfair”.
He said that the decision of the Presiding Judge not to the allow the cameras was “not a ruling” but an administrative decision.
He explained that a ruling is a “recorded” judgment of the court after it had sat on a formal application or motion submitted to it.
He said in “the true sense of the word, there was no ruling” because “there was no application or motion before the supreme court”.
“if it was a ruling, all the nine justices would have taken part in coming to that conclusion and they would have recorded it”.
He said what the judges did was to decline an oral request and not an application for televised coverage by Philip Addision, Counsel for the petitioners for live coverage.
He described the Presiding Judge’s decision as an “opinion” and suggested that it was within the domain of the Chief Justice to issue an administrative direction for live coverage.
The Justices of the Supreme Court had early on disallowed the introduction of TV cameras to broadcast proceedings.
But after weeks of debate in the media, Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood on Monday instructed that the proceedings of the Supreme Court hearing of the election petition, be telecast live on Ghana Television.
 
Source: Myjoyonline

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