The Deputy Attorney-General, Justice Srem-Sai, has called on Ghana to draw lessons from other jurisdictions in resolving the ongoing dispute between the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Attorney-General’s Department over prosecutorial authorisation.
His comments follow a High Court ruling delivered on April 15, 2026, which directed the Attorney-General’s Department to take over all criminal prosecutions currently being handled by the OSP, pending formal approval from the Attorney-General. The ruling stems from a judicial review application challenging the prosecutorial powers of the anti-corruption body.
The OSP has strongly disagreed with the decision, arguing that the court overstepped its jurisdiction. It says it is pursuing legal remedies to have the ruling set aside, maintaining that its enabling Act grants it the authority to prosecute corruption-related offences.
Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Monday, April 20, Srem-Sai said similar legal tensions exist in other common law jurisdictions, and Ghana should not treat the issue as unique.
“It is not just in Ghana that we have this issue. It’s in almost all the Anglo countries, common law jurisdictions; they all have this issue. I think that solving this issue will require us to look elsewhere to see how it is done. But we’re behaving as if we’re the first people facing this kind of challenge,” he said.
The case was brought by Peter Archibold Hyde, one of four individuals under investigation by the OSP. The others include Alhaji Seidu, James Keck Osei, and Customs officer John Abban.
They are alleged to have conspired to unlawfully seize containers using forged documents, including a falsified letter purportedly issued by the then Office of the Vice President.
In its ruling, the High Court held that while the OSP has the constitutional mandate to investigate suspected corruption-related offences, it does not have the authority to initiate prosecutions without prior approval from the Attorney-General.
