REPUBLIC
V.
DISTRICT COURT MAGISTRATE GRADE I, TEMA; EX PARTE AKOTIAH AND OTHERS
AGYEPONG J.
[The court after considering and dismissing as without substance, six grounds in support of the application for certiorari and prohibition, here referred to ground 7, i.e. whether once Attorney-General or the police have decided against prosecution of the applicants, there could be no private prosecution and continued:]
There is nothing in section 61 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960 (Act 30), which disables a private person from launching a private prosecution where the Attorney-General or the police decline or decide against prosecution. Section 61 (1) of Act 30 provides:
“61. (1) Any person who believes from a reasonable and probable cause that an offence has been committed by any person may make a complaint thereof to a District Magistrate who has jurisdiction to try or enquire into the alleged offence, or within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the person accused is alleged to reside or be.”
The jurisdiction conferred on a private citizen to institute private pro…