The Supreme Court of Ghana, in a unanimous decision, has declared constitutional the powers of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to independently prosecute criminal cases.
In late 2025, private legal practitioner Noah Ephraem Tetteh Adamtey sued the Attorney General at the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the OSP Act, 2017 (Act 959).
In his argument, he contended that prosecutorial authority rests solely with the Attorney General, as enshrined in Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution, and that the OSP therefore cannot independently initiate criminal prosecutions.
Per his assertion, under Article 88(4) of the Constitution, the Attorney General is responsible for prosecuting all offences in the name of the Republic, though he may authorise another to prosecute on his behalf. This, he argued, meant that Act 959 which established the OSP and granted it powers to independently take on cases is inconsistent with the Constitution.
In his reliefs, he prayed the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional the provisions of Act 959 that give the OSP independent prosecutorial authority, and to rule that the OSP cannot prosecute cases without the Attorney General’s approval.
During the proceedings, the Attorney General aligned with that constitutional argument, asserting that while prosecutorial functions could be delegated, such powers must remain subject to the Attorney General’s control and supervision rather than being permanently exercised by an independent statutory body.
But in a unanimous decision, the Court dismissed that central argument, holding that Act 959 remains constitutional, as Parliament did not err in passing it into law.
The Court further affirmed that the Attorney General’s prosecutorial powers under Article 88 remain intact, including the authority, under the same article, to discontinue cases that have been commenced by the OSP.