The Supreme Court will resume sitting on April 2, 2012 to resolve, consider and adopt issues to be raised by lawyers in the petition challenging the legitimacy of President John Mahama.
Lawyers for the parties met on Monday March 19, 2013 following a directive from the court advising them to meet, deliberate and arrive at issues to be set out for trial and determination, but that agreement could not be reached by the parties.
Following the communication of the deadlock to the registrar of the Supreme Court on March 19, 2013, the registrar in a letter dated March 25, 2013 fixed April 2, 2013 as the date for the court’s next hearing.
Under the procedures of the court, the legal teams for the petitioners, the President, the Electoral Commission (EC) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are expected to officially announce the areas they agreed on and those they disagreed on. The court will then consider the issues disagreed on and arrive at a solution before the hearing of the substantive case begins.
Following that, a memorandum of issues would then be set out for trial. Key among the memorandum of issue to be set out for trial are whether or not persons were allowed to vote without biometric verification and whether or not votes cast in 11,916 polling stations should be annulled by the court.
Source: Daily Graphic
