Court of Appeal ruling on Sedina could reshape criminal prosecutions, says Inusah Fuseini

According to him, the Attorney-General's intended appeal to the Supreme Court could provide further clarity on an important legal question: the level of detail required in a charge sheet to adequately inform an accused person of the offence they are facing, in line with constitutional guarantees of a fair trial.

Former Member of Parliament and lawyer Inusah Fuseini has described the Court of Appeal's decision overturning the criminal conviction of Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, the former Chief Executive of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), as a landmark judgment that could significantly influence the conduct of criminal prosecutions in Ghana.

Inusah Fuseini further said the Court of Appeal's findings suggest that the prosecution failed to meet the required standard in several aspects of the case, and noted that the appellate court found numerous charges to be defective because they lacked sufficient particulars to properly inform the accused persons of the allegations against them, contrary to the fair trial protections guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution.