Supreme Court dismisses Oppong Nkrumah’s injunction application against legal vacation trials

• The Supreme Court has dismissed Kojo Oppong Nkrumah’s application to stop selected criminal trials during the legal vacation.

• The ruling allows High Court sittings authorised by the Chief Justice to continue.

• Oppong Nkrumah’s main case challenging the constitutionality of the vacation court arrangements is still pending.

The Supreme Court has dismissed an injunction application filed by Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah seeking to stop selected High Court criminal trials from continuing during the ongoing legal vacation.

READ ALSO: Deputy Attorney General rejects GBA's position, backs Chief Justice on vacation courts

The ruling, delivered by Justice Gabriel Pwamang on Friday, August 21, 2026, means the court sittings can continue. Oppong Nkrumah had asked the Supreme Court to restrain High Court judges from conducting criminal trials during the legal vacation, arguing that the warrants issued by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie authorising selected judges to sit were unconstitutional. However, the case is still before the Supreme Court.

Oppong Nkrumah filed the case on August 14, 2026, challenging the Chief Justice's administrative warrants directing certain High Court judges to continue hearing criminal cases during the vacation, which runs from August 1 to September 30.

READ ALSO: GBA protests continuation of some criminal trials during legal vacation

He argued that allowing selected criminal trials to continue amounted to unequal treatment and raised constitutional concerns, particularly where lawyers had indicated that they would not be available during the vacation.

The Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, opposed the application on behalf of the Chief Justice and Attorney-General. He argued that the Chief Justice's administrative role in issuing a warrant should be separated from the judicial role of the individual judge conducting a trial.

According to him, decisions on whether a particular case should proceed are ultimately made by the trial judge and not the Chief Justice. 

The case follows growing disagreement between sections of the legal profession and the Judiciary over the continuation of some criminal trials during the annual legal vacation.

READ ALSO: Chief Justice rejects GBA’s position on lawyers refusing to appear during legal vacation

The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) had earlier urged Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie to respect established legal-vacation practices after lawyers complained about being directed to appear for part-heard criminal cases during the break.

The GBA said the legal vacation, which runs from August 1 to September 30, traditionally allows judges, lawyers and judicial staff to take a break, although Vacation Courts can sit to deal with urgent and interlocutory matters.