Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson has reported the Attorney General (AG) to the General Legal Council (GLC) for what he describes as “professional misconduct”.
He is requesting that the Council starts disciplinary proceedings against Godfred Yeboah Dame.
In a letter to the Council, he stated that AG’s conduct on the last adjourned date (July 19, 2023) where the AG failed to tell the court of an attachment referred by a witness is contrary to the professional conduct of lawyers.
“The “testimony” provided by the AG contradicted the testimony of his own witness and was presented for the first time without prior notice to my lawyers of myself as to the facts known to the prosecution.
“Significantly, after the intervention of the AG, when my counsel asked the witness whether he still by his testimony that he had attached documents to his police statement, the witness would not provide an answer to the question.
“In effect, the testimony of the witness had been influenced by the professionally improper testimony of the Attorney General,” he said.
The embattled MP said his lawyer has applied for a certified true copy of the proceedings before the trial court on that day and will make it available to the Disciplinary Committee as soon as it becomes available.
Mr Gyakye Quayson citing another instance of display of what he describes as improper conduct, said on June 16, when his lawyer was trying to bring to the attention of the court that he was a candidate in the Assin North parliamentary by-election, Mr Dame used insulting language against him.
He said, “This gratuitous insult on the part of the Attorney-General was without any basis and had no place in the trial and, I am advised by my lawyers, is contrary to the Rules of Professional Conduct of lawyers.”
According to the MP, the Minister of Justice also misconducted himself “by his granting of at least one media interview in relation to my case.”
The lawyer said, “Through his professional misconduct, the Attorney-General has clearly jeopardised my fundamental human right to be presumed innocent until I am proven guilty and my right to a fair trial.”
Background
James Gyakye Quayson was elected to serve as the Member of Parliament for the Assin North constituency in the 2020 General Elections until his eligibility was challenged in a High Court.
In a ruling on July 28, 2021, a Cape Coast High Court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye declared the 2020 parliamentary election held in the Assin North constituency, null and void.
He was re-elected after a by-election in 2023.