President Akufo-Addo has assented to a bill approved by Parliament that prohibits the payment of compound interest by the state in transactions entered into on her behalf by public officers.

The law, known as the Contracts (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1114), was sponsored by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, and was passed by Parliament in July 2023. However, it was only presented to the President for assent on March 5, 2024, and he assented to it on March 8, 2024.

The purpose of this amendment to the Contracts Act is to address the tendency of public officers to enter into contracts with high rates of interest, especially compound interest, which has led to significant financial losses for the state.

The Attorney-General noted that many large claims against the state were due to the accumulation of compound interest, often levied and awarded by the courts. As a result of this amendment, public officers are now prohibited from entering into contracts on behalf of the state that stipulate compound interest rates.

In addition to this law, the Attorney-General has also laid a Bill in Parliament known as the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) (Amendment) Bill. This bill, approved by Cabinet on February 2, 2024, aims to reform the criminal procedure laws of the country to expedite the adjudication of criminal cases.

The proposed reforms include abolishing trials on indictment except for offences punishable by death, allowing trials to proceed in the absence of the accused, providing for day-to-day trials of criminal cases, limiting interlocutory appeals to cases of submission of no case, and allowing examination of witnesses by video conferencing. The bill also aims to reform the jury trial system by reducing exemptions from jury service, changing the composition of the jury, and other measures.

The Attorney-General believes that these measures will modernize criminal justice administration in the country and align it with practices in more advanced democracies.

He has called on the public, the legal profession, and all stakeholders in the administration of justice to support the swift passage of the bill into law by Parliament.