[2019]DLHC7088 Login to Read Full Case <span style="font-size: 18px !important;"><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"; color:#00B0F0">THE REPUBLIC<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"; color:#00B0F0">vs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"; color:#00B0F0">BANK OF GHANA<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:115%"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">(1ST RESPONDENT/APPLICANT)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"; color:#00B0F0">GOVERNOR, BANK OF GHANA<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;text-align:center; line-height:115%"><i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">(2ND RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">[HIGH COURT (HUMAN RIGHT DIVISION), ACCRA]<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">SUIT NO: HR/087/2019</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif""> <b> </b> DATE: 26<sup>TH</sup> SEPTEMBER, 2019<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">COUNSEL: <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in; mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">FRANK DAVIES (WITH EMMANUEL DARKWA) FOR 1 ST RESPONDENT/ APPLICANT <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in; mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">KWESI ADU MANTEY FOR APPLICANT/RESPONDENT<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 115%"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">CORAM:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">HIS LORDSHIP GEORGE K. KOOMSON (J)<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;border-right:none; padding:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:115%;border:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">RULING<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">The core issue which I have been called upon to adjudicate on in this application is as to whether or not the jurisdiction of this Court has been wrongly invoked. The contention of the 1 st Respondent/Applicant hereafter called “The Applicant”) is that in so far as the Originating Notice of Motion for Judicial Review filed by the Applicant/Respondent (hereafter called “The Respondent”) has been filed in violation of the mandatory statutory provisions regarding the form for seeking redress of the alleged grievance, and a gross abuse of the Court’s processes, the said Originating Notice of Motion should be set aside or struck out. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">A brief summary of the facts giving rise to the instant application are that, on the 16th day of August, 2019, the Bank of Ghana (BOG), the Applicant herein, revoked the licence of Unicredit Ghana Limited, a Specialized Deposit-Taking Institution by a letter dated 16th August, 2019. Dissatisfied with the revocation of the licence of Unicredit Ghana Limited, the Respondent, which is the majority shareholder in Unicredit Ghana Limited, filed an Originating Notice of Motion in this Court praying for Judicial Review in the nature of Certiorari, to bring the decision of the Applicant into this Court for the purpose of being quashed for stated reasons, inter alia, that there has been a breach of natural justice, namely, a breach of the audi alterem partem rule. Upon service of the Originating Notice of Motion for an order of Certiorari, the Applicant, filed the present application seeking an order to set aside or struck out the Originating Notice of Motion for Certiorari. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">The case of the Applicant is that the jurisdiction of the Court has been wrongly invoked in this particular instance. The Applicant contends that the revocation of the licence of Unicredit Ghana Limited was undertaken or effected pursuant to Section 123 (1) of the Bank and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) which requires the BOG to revoke the license of a bank or specialized deposit-taking institution, where the BOG determines that the institution is insolvent and also that Section 141 (1) (a) of Act 930 prescribes that <b><i>“any person who is aggrieved with a decision of the BOG in respect of matters under Section 123- 139 of Act 930, and that person desires redress of such grievances, that person shall resort to arbitration”</i></b> under the rules of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre, established under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2010 (Act 798). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">The Applicant further contended that, the Respondent, who alleged is the majority shareholder of Unicredit Ghana Limited is aggrieved by the revocation of the licence of Unicredit Ghana Limited, is bound to comply with the provisions of the statute (Act 930), in respect of the form for seeking redress as clearly set out in the statute and certainly not to resort to this Court for remedy. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">It is further the case of the Applicant that as a general rule, it would be contrary to public policy and an abuse of the Court process to permit a person seeking to establish that a decision of a public Institution (BOG) infringed rights to which he was entitled to protection under public law, to proceed by way of an originating notice of motion for judicial review, without resorting to the strict dictates of Act 930, by a resort to statutory mandatory arbitration. Applicant further reiterated that an action which seeks to circumvent the requisite procedure is an abuse of due process and ought to be set aside or struck out. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">Arguing the motion, Counsel for the Applicant referred the Court to some unreported decisions of my sisters, Her Ladyship Justice Jennifer Abena Dadzie in NII AMANOR DODOO v DR. KWABENA DUFFOUR & 15 ORS.; SUIT NO. CM/RPC/0624/2018 (UNREPORTED), DR. KWABENA DUFFOUR & ANOR. v BANK OF GHANA; SUIT NO. CM/TBDC/003/2019 delivered by Her Ladyship Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah dated 21st DECEMBER, 2018 (UNREPORTED) and the decision of my brother His Lordship Justice Noble Nkrumah in the case of JOHN OFORI v BANK OF GHANA; SUIT NO. CM/BDC/0597/2017 (UNREPORTED AND DATED 30TH NOVEMBER 2017). Counsel for the Applicant then contended that in all these rulings, my brother and sisters have been emphatic that the jurisdiction of the Court had been wrongly invoked and that in all these cases, the matters should have been commenced by resort to arbitration. Counsel further stated that since it is the wish of our Courts to have some judicial harmony in the rendering of decisions and to avoid the multiplicity of decisions on matters which relate to the same subject matter. He urged the Court to consider the decisions of my brother and sisters referred to above, which were rendered earlier in time, to strike out or set aside the Originating Notice of Motion for Judicial Review in the nature of Certiorari. The case of BOYEFIO v NTHC PROPERTIES LIMITED [1996- 1997] SCGLR 531 was also cited to the Court by Counsel for the Applicant. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Book Antiqua","serif"">On its part, the Respondent opposes the present application. Respondent contends that the application is misconceived and ha