(By Patrick Smith)
THE CAREER of Austin Amissah - jurist, academic, writer - spanned the length and breadth of the Commonwealth. Born in Ghana in 1930, he became that country's Attorney General and served on commissions and inquiries in the Caribbean, Sri Lanka and South Africa. And as President of Botswana's Court of Appeal he made a landmark ruling against sex discrimination in the Unity Dow case whose reverberations were felt in the region and beyond.
George Bizos, a former colleague of Amissah's on the Botswana appeal bench, and better known as Nelson Mandela's lawyer, remembers Amissah as: “a zealous guardian of judicial independence; a patient, helpful and understanding colleague. He avoided prejudgement of any cause and strove to reach a just decision in every case after giving counsel on both sides and his brethren on the bench every opportunity to persuade him what was the right thing to do.”
A voracious reader; Amissah had been ploughing through commercial arbitration papers in his hospital bed in the expectation that he would defeat the latest assaults on his digestive system in the same way he had dealt with previous hospitalisations. His friend and doctor Felix I.D. Konotey-Ahulu recalls Amissah's sang-froid when in January 1992 he was admitted to hospital in London in poor health which was quickly diagnosed as Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. “This diagnosis would have made some people turn their face to the wall, like King Hezekiah did, and prepare for imminent death. But not Austin,” Konotey-Ahulu said. “He was an amazing patient. He would present doctors with medical information he had obtained from the lay press, then quiz them about it. Sometimes, though, he decided when he would discharge himself from hospital, presenting those who treated him with cogent reasons why he should not be hospitalised a day longer.”
Despite the seriousness of his condition, Amissah showed no sign of being sick: his personal remedy consisted of a resolute optimism about people and events, combined with an intellectual curiosity and sociability that left no time to get weighed down by thoughts of advancing illness.
Amissah had that rare gift of arguing a case and defeating the counter-argument utterly without appearing to have battered his opponent into submission. Some of it was in his demeanour and style. One of South Africa's most distinguished judges, Jan H. Steyn, summed it up: “Austin was a role model for all those who preside over courts of law... I learnt so much from him, especially to be patient even when one's tolerance was stretched by the limit of incompetence and inefficiency.”
Like his fellow Ghanaian, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to whom he was close, Amissah managed to climb to the top of the professional ladder without making serious enemies. The two men shared natural diplomatic gifts and a robust sense of humour: Recently, Amissah wrote to Annan telling him that he had been mistaken for the UN Secretary General in a London Restaurant. Annan, who is eight years Amissah's junior; replied that he would have been flattered had it been the other way round.
Based in London for the last two decades of his life, Amissah undertook an itinerary that would have tired someone half his age, working in Botswana, Ghana, Gambia, Namibia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Trinidad and Tobago. He was busy until the end.
In Unity Dow vs the Attorney General of Botswana in July 1992, as President of Botswana's Appeal Court Amissah ruled in favour of Dow's right to confer nationality on her children. He found that the Botswana constitution's guarantee of equal treatment of men and women overrode an immigration regulation stipulating that nationality rights could only be conferred by a man. The ruling prompted calls for other governments in the region to amend nationality rules to reflect the constitutional rights of equal treatment. His membership (along with Lord Mackay of Clashfern as Chairman and L.M. Singhvi as the other member) of the Presidential Commission of Enquiry into the Administration of Justice in Trinidad and Tobago produced a widely praised report late last year.
Despite his international back-ground - Amissah graduated from Jesus College, Oxford, and was called to the Bar as a member of Lincoln's Inn in 1955 - he remained committed to his native Ghana and its urgent need for economic development. In Ghana's post independence years, he moved quickly through the ranks to become Director of Public Prosecutions by the age of 31 and then appointed as an Appeal Court judge four years later. By then he had won a considerable reputation in scholarly circles and was seconded from the Ghana bench to become Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Ghana Legon from 1969 to 1974. And in 1979 he was appointed Commissioner (Minister) of Justice and Attorney General.
His “Criminal Procedure in Ghana” (1982) won the Noma Book award in 1983. Other books included “The Contribution of Courts to Government: a West African View” (1981) and “Arbitration in Africa” (with Eugene Cotran, 1996).
In 1982, Amissah moved to London with his wife, Stella, and their three children, Ralph, Tonesan and Juliet. But he visited Ghana frequently, undertaking consultancies for the Volta River Authority and most recently working on a legal training and law library project.
It is a particular sadness to his family and those many friends in Ghana that Austin Amissah died before he was able to see the new order in place under President John Kuffuor. The hopes are that the Ghanaian opposition's victory in December will entrench constitutional rule and establish a new respect for human rights and equality before the law - causes for which Austin Amissah spent his life fighting.
Austin Neeabeohe Evans Amissah, judge: born Accra 3 October 1930; called to the Bar, Lincoln's Inn 1955; Director of Public Prosecutions, Ghana 1962-66; Acting Attorney General 1979; Judge of the Court of Appeal, Ghana 1966-76; Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana 1969-74; Chairman, Ghana Law Reform Commission 1969-75; Commissioner of Justice and Commissioner for Local Government, Ghana 1979; Judge of the Court of Appeal, Botswana 1981-2001, President 1988-2001; married 1956 Stella Mattsson (one son, two daughters); died London 20 January 2001.
We are saddened to announce the death of Justice Austin Amissah, a reader, critic and friend of Africa Confidential. An eminent jurist, academic and author, Justice Amissah's career spanned Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe. Born in Ghana in 1930, Justice Amissah became that country's Attorney General and served on Commissions and Enquiries across the Commonwealth. As President of Botswana's Court of Appeal, he made a landmark ruling in favour of Unity Dow's right to confer nationality on her children. He found that the Botswana constitution's rights of equal treatment of men and women overrode an immigration regulation stipulating that nationality rights could be conferred only by a man. A former colleague of Amissah's on the Botswana court of appeal bench, better known as Nelson Mandela's lawyer, George Bizos, described Amissah as “- a zealous guardian of judicial independence; a patient, helpful and understanding colleague; he avoided prejudgment of any cause and strove to reach a just decision in every case after giving counsel on both sides and his brethren on the bench every opportunity to persuade him what was the right thing to do”.
Nothing more effectually tarnishes and eventually drowns a memory than a flood of words, and so I shall be brief.
Austin and I first met at Achimota in 1944. Against the background of rowdy, boisterous and over-zealous youths his gentleness and rare sense of humour portrayed him as a youth in a class of his own. We soon struck up a bond of friendship that lasted throughout the years.
In or around 1944, Austin, who being left-handed had earned himself the sobriquet ABEKU; fractured his left forearm while playing soccer. Within the period that the arm was cast in plaster of Paris, he learnt to write with his right hand and took notes in class and did his homework. That was an early example of his resolve not to be deflected from his goal by adversity. And whether with the left or the right hand his handwriting was more pleasing to the eye than the rest of us.
It was not by coincidence that Cadbury House, the house in which we resided at Achimota, became known in our time as the House of Gentlemen. With the likes of Austin, Alex Kwapong, Baeta and others to influence our lives, that accolade was well earned.
During our stay at Cadbury House, Austin and I belonged to a small group of friends, among whom were Adamu Attah and Johnny Quashie-Idun, who clubbed together to share whatever food our mothers and auntie Martha would send to us over the weekends. In our eating sessions we discussed, among other things, our problems and difficulties and how to surmount them.
Austin would sit listening to proposed solutions without saying a word. Then one of us would turn to Austin and ask for his opinion on the matter under consideration. And even though he was one of the youngest in the group, the opinion he proffered invariably resolved the problem and indicated the way forward. This happened so often that eventually Johnny nicknamed him “SAPIENS” the wise one - a nickname he quietly endured right through school and after. But it was more than that, the wit had prophesied what the man was later to become.
We were sharing a flat in London in 1956 when he decided to marry Stella, to whom he had introduced me on a visit to Oxford in 1954. I doubled as best-man and cook at their wedding.
On my return to Ghana, I was a frequent visitor to the home of the “Amissah's”, as Austin and Stella were fondly called by their friends. I was honoured with a request to be godfather to their son Ralph. Austin was a great family man. He adored his wife, Stella, and their children. He was a model of a father. Once when I shouted at one of my grandchildren for persisting in what he had been forbidden to do, he said: “Roger, do not shout at him, reason with him and he will do as you wish”.
He then demonstrated it by reasoning with the child in a quiet voice and the child desisted from what he was doing. He did this not only with children, but also with adults much older than himself. He had a felicity of language and turn of phrase that made it irresistible to listen to him. And which, combined with his natural sagacity, great learning and sense of humour, made him a colossus among his peers. I know of no one who did not appreciate his wisdom in resolving problems perceived to be unresolvable.
As a prosecutor, he was uncompromising, but fair, both to the accused person and witnesses. His veiled questions kept a witness, and sometimes the court, wondering what he was getting at. But once satisfied the witness had by his answers firmly placed himself in a corner, then and only then, would he spring the telling question from which there was no escape. He was too polite to suggest that any witness was a liar. He proved it. Yet, so fair was he in the prosecution of a case that those he prosecuted to conviction bore him no grudge.
He once, unbeknown to him, gave a lift to a man he had prosecuted to conviction and had been sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. During the ride, the man turned to him and asked: “Master, don't you recognise me? I am Maama Tullah.” Austin told me that he was momentarily shaken and did not know whether wisdom lay in abandoning his vehicle to Maama Tullah and fleeing on foot or to continue driving the gentleman. He settled for the latter, and asked Maama Tullah to talk to him about his experiences until he dropped Tullah off at his destination.
Austin had a sympathetic ear for all and sundry. He would sit patiently and listen to the most improbable story from someone soliciting money from him and, without saying a word he would produce his wallet and hand over to the person whatever he could afford at the time. Later, when asked whether he believed a word of the cock-and-bull story, he would say: “don't mind him. He thinks I am a fool, but if that makes him happy what of it?”
That Austin was not only generous, but also selfless I can attest to. We both left Ghana within a month of each other towards the end of 1982, for different reasons. It was to him that an invitation was first extended to become a judge in Zimbabwe. He turned that offer down and suggested that the appointment be offered to me. I was then interviewed by the Minister of Justice of Zimbabwe and accepted as a Judge of the High Court, where I served for four years before being elevated to the Supreme Court Bench.
The black suit that I wore when I sat on the Zimbabwe High Court Bench was bought for me by Austin, as a man cannot carry much clothing when leaving his country of origin in unaccustomed haste.
Upon my retirement at the age of 70, he again proposed me for appointment, this time to the court of Appeal in Botswana where he was President of the Court, and to which Court, after being interviewed by the Honourable Chief Justice, Mr. Julian Nganunu, and the Honourable Mr. Justice Aguda, I was appointed. Were it not for Austin's selflessness, I may not have been what I am today. To him I owe a great debt of gratitude.
Austin's Judgements both in Ghana and Botswana were gems of wisdom. So erudite was he in the field of Law that his counsel was sought by successive governments in Ghana, though not always acted upon. His opinions were no less regarded in the international arena. Yet he was never pompous or belligerent, never smug or superior. He treated everyone as his equal. He looked down on no one and up to no one. To do justice to the name of Austin would require an eloquence equal to his own, and of which I am bereft.
Of the effect that his magnetic personality, his varied gifts, and his lofty ideals had on the minds of others can best be summed up if I quote the words written some years ago by a distinguished American critic, feeling sure that no words of mine could form so graceful and worthy a tribute, or so truly foreshadow that echo of his greatness which we listen to today:
“The bright periods of history occur, whenever it happens that one man has arisen who to genius and character adds devotion and inflexibility of will. Such a man adorns the stage, and invests it with an allurement which the public cannot easily resist, and then suddenly there ensues a great judicial prosperity.”
Such a man was Austin.
No other Judge has ever been so thoroughly lovingly liked - liked and trusted. Austin's naturalness made him credible to all, regardless of region, religion, race or gender. He was our most brilliant citizen of the word mirroring all the successive eras of changes in human inter-action without ever being dramatic about it. He was discreet and steady without being flamboyant. He was family.
Alas! The great silence has fallen on him that we mourn, the strenuous life ended in a noble but pathetic death, but his memory will forever remain green to those who knew and loved him. As great as he was as a lawyer, brilliant as a Judge, it is the memory of the man we are met here today to honour. Some in the past may have rivalled him as an advocate, others may have been as distinguished in the field of judicial prowess, but none have been so loved and revered as a man. He was not only a friend but also the blood brother I never had. I know how much Stella and the children and his brother and sisters will miss him. We shall all miss him.
Well may his whole life be summarised in the aphorism “Suaviter in modo fortiter in re” (gentle in manner, firm in action).
May the soul of our beloved husband, father, brother and friend rest in eternal peace!
With the passing away of Austin Amissah, Ghana has lost one of her illustrious legal luminaries. As the Independent Newspaper of London in its' Thursday Review of 8 February 2001 aptly described, “The Career of Austin Amissah - jurist, academic, writer, spans the length and breadth of the Commonwealth”. One also remembers him for his warmth and sense of humour.
I first met Austin in October 1954 when I went to Oxford to read law. He had just completed his course in law but stayed on at Oxford to read for the Bar. From then on we became very close friends and he remained one of my closest friends until his death.
After successfully passing his Bar Exams, Austin returned to the then Gold Coast where he joined the Attorney-General's office as an assistant Crown Counsel and rose to the post of Senior State Attorney during a comparatively short time. In 1959 when I returned to Ghana and joined the Attorney General's office, Austin had been posted to Kumasi to head the Attorney General's office there. He was barely five years in the service then - a testimony of his ability, and also the confidence in which he was held by the authorities. A few years later, Austin was reposted to Accra, and it was not long before he was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions, a post he held with distinction. As a lawyer and subsequently a judge of the Highest Courts both in Ghana and Botswana - only a few could match his patience, courtesy and sincerity both at the Bar and the Bench. When at a comparatively young age Austin was appointed to our highest court, quite a few eyebrows were raised, and he was soon to prove them all wrong. Anybody who cared to read his judgments, which adorn the pages of the Ghana Law Reports from 1967 to 1976, and the Botswana Law Reports from 1982 to 2000 will find that his elevation to the bench was more than justified. As Editor of the Ghana Law Reports from 1967 to 1981, I reported practically every judgment delivered by him. His judgments were gems, lucidly written in felicitous language. It was a pleasure reporting them. There was of course criticism from some members of the Bench, that the then Editor of the Law Reports only reported judgments of his friends, especially Austin's. But nobody ever said, the judgments which were reported were not reportable or not very good, nor has anybody ever drawn attention to reportable judgments of other judges which were not reported.
There was the general belief among lawyers that the lawyers trained in the Attorney General's Office were weak in Civil Law as opposed to Criminal Law. When Austin was appointed to the Court of Appeal, the then Chief Justice assigned a few civil cases in the High Court for him to try. I remember him telling me of a civil case of which he was seized. One of the lawyers who appeared before him in the case cited a judgment by reading only a portion of the judgment, which was favourable to his case, and sat down. Austin in his usual characteristic calm manner asked the counsel to read the next page of the judgment, which was against him. He did not reprimand the lawyer for attempting to mislead the court, or for presuming that the judge was ignorant, because counsel had made a fool of himself. I do not think that lawyer ever attempted that gimmick again.
Austin was versatile in the law - jurist, academic, and writer, but I believe of all, he was most at home in the academic world. He enjoyed his post as the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Legon, and was greatly admired by his students. He was therefore disappointed while on his Sabbatical at the Smithsonian Institute for Scholars, U.S.A. that his tenure of office as Dean was abruptly terminated, because he had overlooked a university statutory provision which prohibited the incumbent to be absent for more than two years. He was looking to return to the Deanship. On his return from the Smithsonian Institute, he resumed his seat on the Court of Appeal. While on the Court of Appeal, he succeeded the late Chief Justice, F.K. Apaloo, as chairman of the Council of Law Reporting, of which I was the editor. He was instrumental in acquiring a site for a permanent home for the Coucil of Law Reporting. Also as Chairman, he was able to persuade both the then Australian High Commissioner and the British High Commissioner to provide the Council for Law Reports with complete sets of the Commonwealth Law Reports and the English Law Reports respectively.
Sometime in 1976, Austin came to my office at the Council for Law Reporting and shocked me by telling me that he was retiring from the Bench, this was at the age of 46, which was the age when most lawyers aspire to be judges. I tried to dissuade him but without success. He then established a Legal Consultancy that proved to be successful. In 1978 when I decided to take up an appointment with the Government of Botswana through the Commonwealth Secretariat, I used Austin as one of my referees. A few days later, Austin phoned my wife to enquire whether she was in favour of my going to Botswana. He told her that if she did not want me to go, he would ensure that I did not get the job. My wife said “Uncle Austin”, as he was affectionately referred to by my family “let him go if that is what he wants”. So I left for Botswana, but Austin was soon to follow me in another capacity.
In 1981, the then Chief Justice of Botswana, a Ghanaian, the late Mr. Justice Robert Hayfron-Benjamin recommended that Austin should be appointed to the Court of Appeal Botswana. He had written to Austin. He was not sure that Austin would accept the appointment, so he asked me to persuade Austin to accept the appointment. I therefore sent a telegram (there was no e-mail or fax) that under no circumstance should he reject the offer. He should accept it and later resign if he did not like it. I did not think that Austin ever regretted accepting the appointment. He was one of the most respected judges on the Court of Appeal of Botswana, eventually becoming its President. As stated in the article in the Independent Newspaper “As President of the Botswana Court of Appeal he made a landmark ruling against sex discrimination in the Unity Dow case whose reverberations were felt in the region and beyond”.
I remember visiting him in his office in 1976 where he conducted his consultancy. He asked me whether I had made a will. I said, “no”, because there was nothing to will. He insisted I should make a will, and that he had made a will even though he did not have much to will. Another question he asked me was whether my wife was signatory to my cheque book. When I said no he advised that I should immediately enter her as a signatory to my cheque book just in case I should suddenly die, and she would be in an embarrassing situation if she did not have funds on hand.
Of all the qualifications and achievements, what I will remember most of Austin is his friendliness, advice, warmth, generousity and patience.
On behalf of my wife Dorma, my children Afi, Ahuma, Esayo and myself, I wish to express our condolence to Auntie Stella, Ralph, Tossan and Juliet.
May his soul rest in peace.
I am deeply saddened at the passing away of my good friend Austin. I have known him since 1963 when I was a young Foreign Service officer and in the years thereafter we met frequently in a lot of social and diplomatic circles in Accra.
He was already a prominent figure in the Ghana Public Service, as Director of Public Prosecutions at the Attorney-Generals Office, and was very much in the news. He invariably got questioned in social circles about his work in the courts, legal suits involving any number of individuals and parties. He was very proper in parrying off such incursions on his professional integrity by courteously reminding his interlocutor not to talk shop with him. However, on matters of general legal interest, he could not escape the flurry of interest which he aroused when he discussed points of law. He did so, not in pedantic terms but in simple, layman's language, very much to the admiration of all.
Such was the sterling quality of Austin's, intellect - its clarity, his command of language and his excellent diction. In discussion, his argument, fact and logic flowed abundantly, vigorously and attractively. There was a distinct quality about his personality and intellect - a certain cleanliness, integrity and refreshing candour conveyed with a smiling courtesy. It was always a delight to be in his company, listening to him in lively conversation. Not for a moment should one infer from this that Austin was talkative and sought to engross the centre stage in conversation. He did not push himself forward anywhere. He did not need to. He was precise in language but would only elaborate on points in detail in order to make something clear which might otherwise be misunderstood.
The year 1979 marked a significant turning point in his career. I was privileged then to have worked closely with him in the period from August to September 1979 when the Joint Planning Commission was set up to discuss the transitional arrangements for the handing over by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) to the newly-elected Government of the People's National Party (PNP) led by Dr. Hilla Limann of blessed memory. Austin was then Commissioner (Minister) of Justice and Attorney-General and Commissioner for Local Government. I served then as the Secretary of the Commission. I came to admire more deeply the full measure of his intellectual depth, professional integrity and heightened sense of public duty. It was from those days of close working relationship that someone highly placed thought and announced that we were cousins. Ever since Austin and I have kept that term as a sobriquet of our relationship and as an amusing memory of those historic days.
In assessing Austin's life and service it is impressive to note how varied and rich his record of service: Law Officer, a Law Professor and Academic Dean of Faculty, a member of the Court of Appeal, a Consultant and Minister of Government. All these heights he scaled in his youth. It is manifest that his distinguished service in Ghana played a significant part in building up his wide acquaintance with scholars, jurists and high public personalities abroad. With his professional excellence and integrity, his reputation preceded him everywhere. His services were sought in many international circles. Austin had come to exemplify that fine generation of African jurists and professionals who have distinguished themselves as products of Africa's intellectual relations with the world outside, especially with Europe and North America. Austin's sense and discipline of public duty, the vigour of his mind and body could well cope with the pressures and demands on his time. Law was his medium; his absorbing and predominant interest. As he grew in stature, he was bound to turn his intellect on the relation of law to society and politics.
As a public servant and law officer, he was twice thrust into political office; the first time from February to October 1966 as Acting Attorney-General and the second time in 1979 as Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General and Commissioner for Local Government of Ghana. It was not in the nature of Austin to relish, much less flaunt, the exercise of political authority. Far from it. As a high-minded law officer suddenly thrust into such high offices by force of circumstances, he used the opportunity to serve his country well. On both occasions there were extraordinary constitutional orders at stake. He saw his calling for promoting the rule of law. He put himself to great trouble to clear the terrain for constitutional tidiness. He knew, as well as his professional colleagues, that the legacy of his service was of great significance in assisting to lay the building blocks of constitutional order with which to construct the basis of political stability, peaceful change and development in Ghana. If there was one puzzle in his mind for which he worked to find an answer it was this. Until his last breath, I am sure, he never ceased to ponder deeply over Africa's crisis of political, legal and constitutional order. He knew that this constituted one of the answers to democratic governance.
I lost contact with Austin in the 1980s but I followed with admiration the soaring reputation of his career, whether as a Legal Consultant, a Judge of the Court of Appeal of Botswana, his several other judicial services under the auspices of the UN, the Commonwealth and other multilateral institutions and multinational corporations.
In 1997, after several years of separation, I was pleased that our paths crossed again when I was posted to London. Here he had a busy consultancy in between his judicial assignments in Botswana and other preoccupations. Wherever Austin's name was mentioned, there was nothing but praise for him, whether among Ghanaians who knew him, among friends and contemporaries while he was a student in Oxford, among personalities from Southern Africa, especially South Africa and Botswana and among legal personalities of the Bench and Bar here in England, USA and Africa. You instantly felt it was a privilege to be counted among his friends. Knowing his wife Stella and his children, and the larger family from which he springs, there could be no doubt that whether in times of joy, illness or sadness, his morale received the most comforting boost from his family circle. When in very recent times his health began to fail, not many outside his close family knew of it. He remained as uncomplaining and as industrious and enthusiastic as ever. I am told he refused to discuss his failing health; he rather encouraged his wife and children to be incurable optimists and be of good cheer. He continued to work and receive assignments for consultancy with great zest and calm confidence.
Austin's death is a bereavement for all who cherish law, order and decency in regular organised society. Our hearts go out to his family for their irreparable loss. With his dear wife Stella, his son Ralph, his daughters Tonesan and Juliet, his sons-in-law Malcolm and Neil and two granddaughters, we all share their great sorrow. We pray that they may derive consolation from the satisfaction that they constituted a pillar of strength, support and inspiration for the life and exemplary service for our dear Austin.
We should all be inspired by his life of competent service, made evermore distinguished by his humanity, sense of decency and honour. May these virtues exemplify and rekindle our loving memory of Austin Amissah.
I have had the privilege of reading the many tributes and speeches that have been made about our departed brother Austin N.E. Amissah. If what I should now say appears the same as you have heard from such speeches, please do not think I merely copied. This arises because we are mourning and paying tribute to the same person. He is remembered from many perspectives - being a person of great abilities in many areas but essentially it is the same man we all describe. The important point is that we are united about his many talents, humanity and commitment.
I repeat he was a man of many talents, profound humanity and a deep sense of commitment.
I have known Austin since 1981 when he became a judge in the Court of Appeal of Botswana and I then practised in the courts of Botswana. He became the Judge President of the Court of Appeal of Botswana from 1988 till his untimely demise. I then became a judge in the High Court of Botswana in January 1992 and a Chief Justice for the country from July 1997. Since this period, I have worked closely with Austin in the judiciary of Botswana. When therefore I speak of his contribution to Botswana in the judicial field and wider areas apart, I have good reason to know.
Ever since Austin ascended to the Court of Appeal in Botswana, it very quickly became clear that he possessed one of the finest legal intellects of our time. I myself got a rude awakening to that fact in the case of Commissioner of Taxes v. A.B. Company Limited: Civil Appeal No. 1 of 1981 decided in December 1982 when he delivered the majority decision against my client in which I was led by a brilliant senior from the Johannesburg Bar of South Africa. He was to show flashes of pure brilliance in many leading cases in Botswana, which have blazed the way in the route of human rights and constitutional freedoms. The famous cases of Dow v. The Attorney General 1982; and The Attorney General of Botswana v Bruiwer and Strumper in 1999 - C. to mention a few.
The Court of Appeal in Botswana is the last Court of Appeal of the land. It is made up of international judges of repute who sit in two sessions annually to dispose of all cases. The Chief Justice of Botswana is not its leader and the current practice is that he may only attend at the invitation of the Judge President of that court. Austin Amissah was a member of that court from 1981 and led it on behalf of Botswana from 1988 to the time of his death. Up to that time nobody in Botswana or in the court itself had ever thought he should be replaced. That was a measure of his dominance of the court. He led that court through frenzied legal session during each of the short court sessions allowed the Court of Appeal to work. He worked by example and by doing so, he extracted from all his colleagues more than would seem possible from the outside. He did all that without any complaint from his colleagues. Indeed I often heard from most of them of the collegiate spirit and camaraderie that the court enjoyed. That to me illustrated his unparalleled leadership qualities and diplomatic skills. Veritably he was a leader of men. He was a person who proved himself amongst highly reputed international jurists on the Botswana Court of Appeal, as the primus inter pares. I know one thing - he came to Botswana and did all his work for such a long period because he believed in the contribution of law to social justice. He often repeated that the law was but a tool for social engineering and the enhancement of human dignity. He saw in the Republic of Botswana a democratic country, which at that time was surrounded by perhaps hostile and not so democratic regimes; and he believed in the preservation of the Botswana example as a beacon for democratic values. Those selfless motives were his inspiration and that of his other colleagues on the Bench of the Botwana Court of Appeal. Once he had been entrusted with such a court in that country he saw it as his duty to consolidate the observance of the rule of law. In that, at least up to date, he succeeded immensely. So I pay tribute to a truly African internationalist of great legal intellect. He was a leader of people and a diplomat of immense persuasion. He believed in the African vision, which holds that Africa like other continents, has great potential, is essentially democratic, that Africans from any African countries, more than others, have the duty and privilege to work Africa out of its present somewhat unstable situation. He did not ask what was owed him or blow his trumpet of how much he works, but steadfastly, with a clear purpose and zeal, sought out what part he could play to make the world better. He was born to serve and not to lament, because he did not ever complain of the facilities laid out for the Court of Appeal in Botswana. In this he was just like his dear wife Stella, who accompanied him to each and every session of the work in Botswana without a word of complaint. In Botswana; and I dare say in many other countries and international organizations, Austin had carved for himself an enviable niche where he had no equal for the jobs and roles he held, and there were many! For us he helped create a Court of Appeal of a very high calibre with a reputation in international legal circles that far exceeds the size of our country. The court has become known, under the leadership of this Ghanaian patriot, for its unflinching commitment to real justice, which cuts through obstructive procedures and legal sophistry; and at the same time does not ignore necessary rules that hold a system and fairness together. He helped entrench the rule of law by showing that the law is for all and sundry and that the constitution is an instrument for the protection of the liberty, rights and properties of each and every righteous litigant. He and his colleagues in our Court of Appeal have already created a jurisprudence that will surely stand the test of time. We still had hoped for his contribution.
Oh!! why had he to die at this time. Austin was loved and respected by all. We mourn him and regret his passing even as we accept that God's will be done on earth. From Botswana we want to thank the Republic of Ghana which brought him up and nurtured his beliefs and values; so that he became a man with a commitment. We want to thank his parents and the wider family, together with his beloved wife, Stella and their children. I should tell you that throughout his work in Botswana Mrs. Stella Amissah was as committed and as loyal to the mission of her husband and the Court of Appeal, as if she was one of the judges. We owe her too a great debt of appreciation. To her and her children I want to mention that Austin, as they know, had become a friend of Botswana and of me and my family, as well as being an advisor at work. He personified the best in human beings and whilst we mourn his passing we must record our great thanks to the Lord himself who blessed us with a son of his calibre and perspicacity. I want to say to the family of Austin Amissah that he and they, shall always be remembered as friends of Botswana and the friends of my family. Any time they wish to take a trip to Southern Africa they must think of coming to Botswana first; and to my house in particular. May the Memory of their great father sustain them and God bless his soul.
On the Occasion of the Memorial Ceremony in Honour Of the Late Mr. Justice Austin Amissah, Judge-President of the Court of Appeal Of the Republic of Botswana Wednesday 31st January 2001
My Lord, Acting Judge-President Aguda; My Lord, Chief Justice Nganunu; My Lords, Honourable Judges of Appeal; My Lords and Lady, Judges of the High Court of Botswana; Registrar of the High Court; Your Worships, Members of the Magistracy, My Learned Friends, Members of the Bar; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen;
1 It was with the greatest sadness and shock that I learned, on Saturday 20th January 2001, of the tragic passing of His Lordship Honourable Mr. Justice Austin Amissah, the learned and esteemed Judge-President of the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Botswana. Though I was aware of the illness, which militated against his attendance of the on-going session of the Court of Appeal, it was my expectation that he was going to recover therefrom; and, quite frankly, I had taken it for granted that I would see him at the July 2001 session, and I was looking forward to that occasion. My Lords and Lady, for all of us who had no real insight into the gravity of his illness, the death of Justice Amissah has been a cruel, untimely and telling blow.
2 My Lords and Lady, Members of the Bar, my acquaintance with the late Justice Amissah goes back some twenty (20) years, when he was first appointed to this honourable court as Judge of Appeal in 1980/81. I appeared before him on a few occasions in those years and it rapidly became apparent that he was a man of immense, and exceptional gifts. He possessed a razor-sharp intellect, and a fertility of mental resource which was unparalleled.
3 In addition to his formidable intellect, it must be recognised that the late Justice Amissah also brought an invaluable wealth of learning and experience to this court. His career, prior to his appointment to the court in 1981, encompassed appointments to very high offices. Well before his attainment of 50 years, he had been Director of Public Prosecutions, an Attorney General, a judge to the Court of Appeal of Ghana, a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, and ultimately a judge of the Supreme Court of Ghana. These appointments, and the experience derived therefrom, conduced to the emergence of one of the most well-rounded, seasoned and eminent jurists ever to grace this court.
4 It was, undoubtedly, in recognition of his gifts - and their sheer abundance - that he was appointed Judge President of the court with effect from 1st January 1988. His tenure as Judge-President coincided with a major upswing in the court's business, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and the late Justice Amissah steered and directed this honourable court through what is undoubtedly its busiest, most challenging and stimulating era. Not only did he justify the confidence reposed in him as a worthy leader of this honourable court in terms of the influence which he was able to exert, and to chart this court's course in hitherto un-navigated judicial waters in this jurisdiction, but, his tenure as Judge-President also ushered in an unprecedented era of judicial activism and dynamism, and inspired some of the most far-reaching and ground breaking decisions in the annals of our jurisprudence.
5 My Members of the Bar, the late Justice Amissah's judgements, which constitute a significant part of his contribution to the development of our jurisprudence, and are his legacy to us and future generations, are too numerous and varied to be enumerated on an occasion such as this. Criminal lawyers will readily recall his decision in Mosotho Masina v The State, which decision was ground-breaking in relation to the admissibility of confessions in criminal cases, and which judgement compelled a complete re-examination of the sufficiency of the then existing safeguards to ensure the voluntariness of such confessions. There was also Letsogoro & Others v The State, which remains the clearest exposition of our law on the doctrine of common purpose in relation to joint offenders.
6 But there are other numerous definitive judgments, which are notable not only for their remarkable clarity in terms of their exposition of the law, but also for what those judgments reveal about the late Justice Amissah's credo as a judge, and how he understood his judicial role. I recall his exhortations in the case of Unity Dow v Attorney General that our Constitution must be interpreted as a living document, and the need for the understanding that its dispositions impact not only the aspirations of the living, but future generations as well. We also recall his judgment in Labbaeus Peloewetse v Attorney-General, in which he stated that, in a democracy (such as our own) the presumption by which executive action is generally presumed to be correct puts government at a great advantage; but, necessarily, imposed a reciprocal obligation on the government to ensure that when it acts, it does so correctly. And, further, that a government should not hide its own mistakes behind a shroud of silence when its actions are questioned. Although novel in this jurisdiction, the late Justice Amissah was echoing a view, which he had earlier expressed in his book titled “Contribution of the Courts to Government”, wherein he had stated that silence by the courts in the face of wrongdoing by the executive was the beginning of tyranny and a death-knell for democracy.
7 No less ground-breaking was his judgment in Richard Moeti & Others v Botswana Meat Commission in which he ruled that the Industrial Court did not exist simply to decide trade disputes, but was created to settle such trade disputes; and that upon the latter and more permissive interpretation, the Industrial Court was entitled to adopt a more pro-active role in discharging its duties, and not merely to observe one party best the other. My Lords and Lady, Members of the Bar, scholarly as his judgments undoubtedly were, the late Justice Amissah's contribution ought not to be assessed in purely esoteric terms, because the judgments to which I have alluded (and the countless others to which I have not) are loaded in terms of their actual/or potential benefit to the lives of the people of this country, and the transformation or resolution of certain inequalities in our society.
8 Besides his far-reaching judgments, I will always remember the late Justice Amissah for the depth and sincerity of his belief that the courts, including a court of last resort such as this, must be accessible to all, however lowly or indigent or misguidedly revolutionary. For years, a certain famous litigant in person (who shall remain nameless) but invariably assisted by his non-lawyer son, was practically assured of a reserved position in this courtroom. In courts where the austerity of tabulated legal formalism prevails over the litigant's right to be heard, it is doubtful whether such indulgence could ever have been extended to a litigant who was never represented by counsel and one who so consistently flouted the rules of court in relation to proceedings in forma pauperis.
9 I would also like on this occasion to acknowledge the late Justice Amissah's open mindedness, and his ever-readiness to hear Counsel on a point of law; and, if the circumstances warranted, engage such counsel in legal debate. Whilst one cannot be heard to encourage argument on legal points devoid of merit, it cannot be gainsaid that litigants derive inestimable satisfaction from being afforded the opportunity to ventilate their grievances. I recall the late Justice Amissah's near-inexhaustible patience with such litigants, and occasionally their counsel. But I also recall the opening words of his judgment in the reported decision in Smit v Swedish Geological Surveys in which he admitted that the appellant's case, at the outset, was not readily appreciable to him; but having listened patiently he later grasped the point being advanced by or on behalf of the appellant, and proceeded to decide in the appellant's favour.
10 My Lords and Lady, Members of the Bar, there is much that has been said, and a great deal more that can, and probably will, be said about the late Justice Amissah's virtues and attributes as an individual and as a judge; and about the sterling manner in which he discharged his role as the Judge-President, and standard bearer of this honourable court. That he was a major, and indeed global figure, or something of a colossus in a judicial context admits little, if any, doubt. But for all his greatness, his glittering career and illustrious achievements, he remained one of the most humble, unassuming and, at times, most self-effacing individual I have ever known. Along side the memories of his numerous accomplishments, there are many of us who will also cherish the memory of his ever unfailing courtesy, his gentleness, his dignity and grace.
12 We, in this jurisdiction, have been richly blessed not only in our good fortune to secure and retain, for the length of time that we did, a pre-eminent jurist of the late Justice Amissah's calibre and distinction; but more so, in the premium and importance with which he regarded his appointment here, and the consistently dedicated service which he rendered over the twenty (20) years that he was a member of this honourable court. His passing, coming as it does when his mental faculties remained so alive and he still had very much to offer, is an irreplaceable loss. My Lords, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank judges of this honourable court, both past and present, for all the assistance and support, companionship and friendship, they afforded to the late Justice Amissah over the years; and perhaps without which, his tenure as a judge of this court may not have had the same luster.
13 My Lords and Lady, Members of the Bar, our thoughts at this moment are with the late Justice Amissah's wife, namely Stella, and their children. We are mindful of the depth and extent of their loss, and it is our prayer that the good Lord shall give them strength and comfort during this bereavement; and that, with His guidance and assistance, they overcome their grief.
14 I thank you all.
It is with deep shock, sadness and a sense of loss that the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of the Volta River Authority (VRA) received the news of the passing away of r. Justice Austin Amissah in London on 20th January, 2001.
We knew that he had been under medical care for some time. But just weeks before his death, he had been providing to VRA legal services and guidance from his immense experience in international corporate culture. The Authority had become heavily reliant on him in our negotiations with multinational corporate bodies. Recent negotiations he handled for the Authority included those on the Valco Agreements and the mediation between General Electric/Stone & Webster (GE/S&W) on claims and counter-claims concerning the Takoradi Thermal Power Plant Project. Indeed, earlier, Justice Amissah had been immersed fully in VRA's negotiations with CMS Generation of Michigan, USA on our joint venture arrangements for the expansion and privatization of the Takoradi Thermal Power Plant. Justice Amissah was therefore very much “in the trenches” so to speak, with VRA on all our current and major engagements and transactions up to a few weeks before he died. So it never occurred to us that whatever ailment he had could have ended his life so soon.
VRA's relationship with Justice Amissah goes back to the early years when VRA found itself having to call upon the Volta Aluminium Co. (Valco) to negotiate an increase in the power rate, which is the price paid for electricity generated from Akosombo. At that time the very thought of questioning he Valco power rate and indeed, anything concerning the Valco Agreements was considered a heresy.
The Valco power rate had been agreed to by the parties, presumably at arms length, and fixed in a carefully negotiated power contract of fifty years duration. Any such price change would require amending the Agreement which deliberately made no provision for such amendment. Moreover, it was at that point in time when the full business relationship negotiated and envisaged in the Valco Agreements had just taken off. The Akosombo plant had reached its full installed capacity and the aluminium smelter construction had also been completed.
Ghana had scant technical expertise and very little negotiating skills with which to persuade Valco and it's owners to pay more for electricity from Akosombo. Valco's owners were two of the most powerful muti-national corporations of the aluminium industry, namely, Kaiser Aluminium and Chemicals Corporation (KACC) and Reynolds Metals Company (Reynolds).
This was when VRA discovered the genius of Austin Amissah. When he was consulted on how to approach the problem he was neither intimidated by what appeared to have been cast in stone, nor over-awed by the economic power and international stature of the opponents. He acknowledged Government respect for sanctity of agreements and Government policy not to do anything to discourage foreign investment in the country.
He was also aware however that the early 1970s had witnessed such a phenomenal increase in the world average power rate that the Valco power rate had become untenable and indefensible.
Justice Amissah prompted VRA's first Ghanaian Chief Executive, Dr. E.L. Quartey, to put such a persistent pressure on Edgar Kaiser for a rate increase that Kaiser capitulated. This enabled VRA, in spite of the fixed price provision to extract from Valco a series of upward adjustments of the power price. Between 1972 and 1981 the rate of 2.325 US mills per unit rose in various steps to 5 US mills in 1981. In the process of achieving these small but significant gains for VRA, Justice Amissah gained the respect and admiration of highly knowledgeable members from both sides of the negotiations. He held his own, to our great pride, in a series of lucid written and verbal arguments on legal principles and concepts, accounting principles, procedures and ethical standards, as well as on technical issues of the power and aluminium industries, exchanged chiefly with Ward Saunders, a redoubtable and formidable engineering and legal luminary who led the Kaiser Group. But VRA was still not satisfied with 5 mills. VRA wanted more than 20 mills. At this point the negotiations broke down. A new Government which had taken power in 1981 took over responsibility to restructure the whole relationship between GOG and Valco. The price negotiations between VRA and Valco under the Power Contract were therefore absorbed into the restructuring.
But before a Government team commenced negotiations on the restructuring of the relationship with Valco, Justice Amissah was commissioned to review the Valco Agreements and to produce a comprehensive digest of VRA's earlier negotiations with Valco on the power rate increases, to summarize VRA's case for the review and Valco's responses to them, and to suggest a resolution to the impasse.
Justice Amissah, who by then had already been a former Attorney-General, former Dean and Lecturer of the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana and the Ghana Law School, and a Justice of the Court of Appeal, then the highest court in Ghana, in addition to the advisory services he had rendered to the VRA, was eminently qualified for the work. And he rose to the occasion. The digest when completed became the cornerstone of the preparatory work of the Ghana Government Technical Team on the re-negotiation of the Valco Agreements. It is a lucid and fitting testimony to his immense intellectual talent for a highly technical and complex multidisciplinary subject such as the power and aluminium industries and the legal issues, principles and concepts that concern and govern their interrelationship.
But Justice Amissah did more in the VRA/Valco saga. He was one of the first Trustees of the Valco Trust Fund. As a Trustee, he did a thorough study of the exchange of correspondence between Kaiser and Nkrumah which lead to the creation of the Fund. He saw the Fund, not so much as an expression of Kaiser's charity to Ghana but as part of the financial entitlements of Ghana in return for concessions granted and cheap power provided to Valco. He therefore fought relentlessly for the right to verify Valco's computation of the amount payable to the Trust Fund by auditing Valco's accounting processes and numbers.
For the last couple of years, Mr. Austin Amissah brought along his son Ralph, who also doubled as his legal partner, to do the research at our negotiation sessions, participate in the drafting and provide electronic technology to back up support to him in his work with VRA.
With his demise we can no longer draw on his rich reservoir of wisdom nor tap his highly efficient professional services delivered continuously and right on call. Hence our great sense of loss and dismay. For us his passing away has been very untimely. And we are profoundly saddened by this loss. He was not just a revered, reliable and extremely knowledgeable professional colleague but also a collaborator in the vigorous pursuit of VRA's corporate objectives and interests and a highly respected and deeply cherished friend and mentor to may of our staff, past and present, old and young, some his contemporaries, others his former students, all drawn to him as much by his superior intellect as by his unassuming disposition.
VRA has indeed lost an irreplaceable advocate and colleague.
To his wife Stella, his son and partner Ralph, his two daughters and all members of his family, we send our deepest condolences.
Mrs. Stella Amissah and the rest of the Family of the Departed Justice, our Highnesses, your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
On 20th January 2001, an Iroko tree that bestrode Africa fell - birds dispersed and nobody knows where they will perch.
Our Fountain of wisdom has dried up - where will we drink from?
Ladies and Gentlemen, we find no better words to depict our feeling of deep loss we at African Export-Import Bank (“Afreximbank” or the “Bank”) feel about the sudden death of Justice Austin Amissah, one of the most illustrious and lucid legal minds we have been opportuned to work with. Standing here, amongst the large crowd that have gathered to pay their last respects to Austin, we cannot but conclude that he touched many people's lives while he lived.
Anybody who has had the opportunity to read Austin's biography will agree that Africa owes him a tremendous debt. However, one thing missing in his biographies we have read is the tremendous work he did for Afreximbank. It is therefore important that we put on record the additional service he gave to our continent through his work with the Bank. In this regard, we will like to state for posterity that Austin played a crucial role in resolving a thorny legal problem the Bank confronted [with regard to its governance] a few years after the Bank was established. Austin waded through highly technical documents, conducted extensive research and threw light on the way out of the problem. Indeed, the lucid manner with which he identified the problems and offered remedies turned the otherwise thorny problem into a routine house-keeping matter. His presentations to our Board and General Meeting were always so sound that most proposals proffered by him were adopted unanimously. It was through his hard work, intellect, tact and experience that necessary amendments to the Afreximbank Charter were made with a minimum of rancour in the Bank's General Meetings. We have no doubt in our minds that the work he did more than ever placed the Bank on a very firm foundation for future growth.
Recently, Austin began discussions with Afreximbank on a collaborative programme to transfer complex trade and project financing expertise to African lawyers. He saw the necessity of ensuring that part of the hundreds of thousands of U.S. Dollars paid to foreign legal firms by banks documenting African deals go to African law firms. We were still discussing the modalities of implementing this laudable programme arising from a shared vision when we learnt of his death.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
I believe you can now see why we will miss Austin so dearly. As those who knew him would testify, his lucid, clear and articulate mind was a rarity. However, as we mourn him today, the advice we can give the Family and those who miss him as we do is that we can pay him no better tribute than to continue with the good work he was known for.
Austin's death has brought the import of the saying, “you never miss your walk till your well runs dry”, home to us. [**#?]~[* ... ]~
His death has also deprived us from drinking from the Fountain of wisdom which he represented. On 20th January, Africa lost an illustrious son. It is indeed an irrreparable loss.
On behalf of the Board, Management and staff of Afreximbank, I would like to extend the Bank's heartfelt sympathy to the family of Austin, the Government and the people of Ghana and all those whose life Austin touched.
May His soul rest in perfect peace in the Lord's bosom. Amen!
On Saturday afternoon, 20th January 2001, at the Royal Postgraduate Medical Schools Hammersmith Hospital, London, Justice Austin Amissah departed this life. For more than nine years Austin had borne the burden of ill health with remarkable fortitude. In order that, even after death, Justice Amissah's experience might be of help to others, his family has agreed that I could mention some details of his clinical history.
Austin first presented in the evening of Wednesday 8th January 1992, very ill. After examining him I contacted Professor Lucio Luzzatto of the Royal Postgraduate Medical School who very kindly agreed to admit him to hospital the same night. This led to the diagnosis of MALT Lymphoma ie mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the stomach.
This serious diagnosis would have made some people turn their face to the wall, like King Hezekiah did, and prepare for imminent death. But not Austin. Between January 1992 and January 2001, Justice Amissah achieved more than a great many professionals did in decades of excellent health. From October to December 1992 he was Leader of the Commonwealth Observer Mission to South Africa. In 1993 Justice Amissah was Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Enquiry (which included New Zealands Sir Kenneth Keith and Nigerias Justice Muhammadu Uwais) on the Araly Point Explosion which resulted in the death of several senior military officers in Sri Lanka. He was not only Consultant to the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, on South African constitutional affairs but was also involved with reviewing the scope and functions of the Ministry of Justice in The Gambia. During the same period (1992-1994) Austin Amissah's advice was sought regarding a USAID project in the Gambia, the Ghana Stock Exchange and how it related to the Ghana Companies Code and, in subsequent years, he continued to immerse himself in work in Namibia, Botswana, Ghana, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom where he maintained an international legal consultancy in London. Right up to the day he died Justice Amissah had been (since 1988) President of the Court of Appeal in Botswana.
He was an amazing patient. He would present his doctors with medical information he had obtained from the lay press, then quiz them about it. Sometimes, though, he decided when he would discharge himself from hospital, presenting those who treated him with cogent reasons why he should not be hospitalised a day longer than necessary.
Being the great scholar that he was, Professor Amissah was sought after for various lectures and seminars and, sick or not, he accepted the invitations. Those who heard him less than two years ago in The Great Hall, University of Ghana, on 5th March 1999, shall never forget the lecture he delivered. Flanked on the platform by the Dean of the Law Faculty, Professor Akua Kuenyehia, and the late Mr Justice Fred Apaloo, Professor Amissah delivered (as part of the Fiftieth Anniversary Celebrations of the University of Ghana) a public lecture on the Law Faculty's Fortieth Anniversary. I sincerely hope that lecture was published. Entitled The Law, Lawyers and Litigants in Society the lecture was a masterpiece, obtaining full marks from at least one physician. Little wonder that one of Austin's books, Criminal Procedure In Ghana, is mentioned on the Internet among nominations for One Hundred Best Books Africa Has Produced In The 20th Century. I have only touched upon what Austin Amissah achieved after his diagnosis so that we may all learn from him, but I am sure others will mention his enormous achievements before 1992.
Ending on a personal note, I shall miss Austin for many reasons; one of which is this: he was the only person I knew who would say to me: How are you today? before I got round to asking him the question, so concerned was he about the welfare of other people. He was also unflappable. Indeed, he would sooner reassure his doctors, than they him. For the more than 54 years that I had known Austin Amissah (from the days he led Cadbury House to bowl out Gyamfi House with his medium pace left arm leg spin in Achimota School), he was never flustered. On the morning he had the cardiac arrest in hospital, he had just had breakfast and ordered the morning newspapers to keep abreast of what was happening in the world. I do not know how his family coped with this tranquil-even-in-adversity man, but Austin had in Stella, his bride of some 45 years, an equally calm lady who was not only a remarkable help-meet, but one who nursed her husband superbly in times of emergency at home and abroad. His illness bound the whole family together very firmly - Ralph, and his sisters Tonesan and Juliet and their families. To them, and to the larger family in Ghana I extend my condolences and my wife's.
Austin Amissah was a great man, and a kind man. His departure has left a void - families will miss him, countries will miss him, and the Commonwealth will miss him. May he rest in peace. For those of us left behind, I am reminded of the hymn of John Henry Newman (1801-1890):
LEAD, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home; Lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene: one step enough for me.
Austin N.E. Amissah, President of the Court of Appeal of Botswana, eminent jurist and, without any doubt, a brilliant lawyer, passed away on Saturday, 20th January 2001. Austin was an extraordinary man. His knowledge of the law was very profound indeed. But above all, he was a perfect gentleman.
I had the undeserved privilege of working with him on a number of consultancy projects in the Gambia. We collaborated so well that one couldn't discern that ours was a relationship of mentor and student, such was the humility of the man.
I always wondered how Austin could move so easily and swiftly from one legal arena to another - from Contract Law and Constitutional Law to Commercial Law and Arbitration, and more. He was a fine legal mind. His legacy to the law is monumental and our debt to him unusually large. To cite just two examples: In the Court of Appeal in Botswana, Austin left a landmark decision in Constitutional Law which has become a locus classicus on sex discrimination. That was in the case of Dow v. Attorney General of Botswana. In the Caribbean region, Austin's name will go down in history as one of a team of three (the others being Lord Mackay of Clashfern and Dr. L.M. Singhvi) who have just produced a report on the Machinery for the Administration of Justice in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. He was an exemplar. In short, he was the quintessential lawyer who won the admiration of all. He lived and worked in several jurisdictions, born and bred in one, professionally honed in another practised his profession in several others, tried and tested in all. He passed those tests with flying colours.
I am the richer for having known Austin and worked with him as a colleague and a friend. He never allowed his supreme knowledge of the law, nor the fact that he was the senior of the two, nor that I worked under him as a lecturer when he was Dean of the Faculty of Law at Legon to stand between us. He treated me always as an equal. We had many a vigorous argument and discussion over fine and abstruse legal issues. His ability to ventilate issues and cut through the density of legal problems was a quality which I always admired in him.
It will therefore be understood why I feel an especial pain for losing a loyal, trusted and devoted friend, a professional idol and mentor. But rather than mourn the passing of Austin we should all give thanks to the Almighty God for making it possible for us to benefit from the decency of his life and the scholarship of his mind. We thank God for letting Austin cross our paths. His charming and dear wife, Stella, who stood by Austin through thick and thin, deserves our heartfelt sympathies, just as much as their children.
God's beautiful treasure has been returned to Heaven. We can only sing praises to the Almighty.
My dear friend, Austin, may the earth lie lightly upon you.
Albert K. Fiadjoe Professor of Public Law University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus Barbados January 30, 2001
A star has disappeared from the judicial firmament of Botswana and indeed of the Commonwealth with the passing away into eternity on Saturday January 20, 2001 of Honourable Justice Austin Neeabeohe Evans Amissah.
All those who came in contact with Justice Austin Amissah in his life either as a lawyer, or equally importantly, as a gentleman, must realise that the legal profession, his career choice, and Africa as a whole have lost a rare gem with his death. My interaction with Austin lasted only 20 years but those 20 years gave me an insight into his humaneness, his unalloyed love for fairness and justice, and his legal sagacity as well as to his administrative capability. Not only that, I had in him a very close ally in the pursuit of the eternal search for the upliftment of dignity of man and woman alike. The judgements of the Botswana Court of Appeal reported and yet unreported between 1981 and 2000 are a loud testimony to this.
When Austin joined the Botswana Court of Appeal in 1981, a year after I had been appointed to that court, he brought along with him his unusual experience as legal practitioner in all spheres of the profession, his enviable record as a judicial officer at the highest level, as an admirable teacher of law as well as an author of law books. Austin's background being so similar to mine served as a platform of a friendship both in our professional outlooks as well as in our personal lives, a friendship which lasted till he had to change from mortality to immortality. Both of us would have wished that our friendship lasted another 25 years but that is never to be.
His assumption in 1988 of the leadership of the Botswana Court of Appeal, which replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the apex court in the hierarchical structure of the Botswana judicial system, provided him with two daunting challenges. First, he had to have the wisdom and the force of character and the knowledge required of such a post in order to be able to weave into a formidable whole members of that court who are drawn from seven different countries, namely, Botswana, South Africa, Scotland, England, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and his home country Ghana. His success in this respect was simply so outstanding that at the time of his death tributes poured into the offices of that court from all those countries and others. And each and every member of that court, serving as well as retired, has phoned in requesting that I say that from the very bottom of their hearts comes their undying admiration for a man they have grown to love and respect.
The second challenge was to address how the judiciary could assist in the development of Botswana so as to meet not only the demands of the modern world where the demand for human rights as well as women's and children's rights have become internationalised while at the same time ensuring that the judiciary should not alienate itself from the very people it had been established to serve. It gives me joy and a sense of pride that in all the efforts of Austin to meet this particular challenge, from the time of his presidency, to the end, he found me an unwavering ally. The Law Reports of Botswana as well as the Law Reports of other Commonwealth countries provide loud and independent testimony to the success of the Botswana judiciary under Justice Austin Amissah in this very difficult task.
The Court of Appeal of Botswana under the Presidency of Justice Austin Amissah whilst drawing inspiration and wisdom from other courts, especially those of the Commonwealth, did not only go all out to assert and maintain its independence of all the courts of all other foreign countries, but that which is of far more importance, was to maintain its independence from any sources external to the court itself. In this respect one must sing aloud the praises of the successive governments of this country for their understanding such that even after many decisions of the court which might have sent jitters down the spines of the governments of some other African countries, there continued to be unparalleled harmony and love between the Executive and the Legislature on the one hand and the Judiciary on the other. Thus the Court has provided unparalleled stability for an enviably democratic Republic of Botswana.
In further testimony to the judicial sagacity of Honourable Austin Amissah, and for his unsurpassed love of fairness and justice, he was on several occasions called upon either to head a team of top-most judges in the Commonwealth to solve seemingly intractable political situations such as in the case of Sri Lanka, or to join a team of constitutional experts all over the Commonwealth to assist in re-shaping the political future of one of the member countries. First in the 1960s, he had the difficult task of giving assistance to the blacks of South Africa, at the peril of his own life, then later he was appointed Leader of the Commonwealth Observer Mission prior to the elections that ushered in the new South Africa; and in that new South Africa he was a participant in the Round Table Conference on South African Constitution in 1995 in which I also had the honour and privilege to participate. More lately he was a member of a team of top judicial officers from the Commonwealth given the duty to recommend reform and development of the judiciary of another Commonwealth country, namely, Trinidad and Tobago.
It is impossible in a short write-up such as this to pay sufficient tribute to one who in his way shaped the lives of so many different persons of different countries, and the destinies not only of his own country, as his biography shows, but also of the destinies of other countries scattered all over the globe. Austin lived in his own very little corner of this earth but his contribution to the development and happiness of humanity everywhere will live for much longer than the biblical 70 years which he managed to exceed, though very slightly, before he left millions to mourn him. The greatest of his mourners are his wife Stella, Mother of the Botswana Court of Appeal and his children and grandchildren. For me, he continues to live in my heart for the rest of my own life.
En av de stora bland den nya tidens afrikaner, Austin Amissah, har avlidit i London, 70 år gammal. Född i Ghana och utbildad först vid Achimota School, Ghanas Eton, och sedan i Oxford, blev han bland annat riksåklagare, justitieminister, dekanus vid juridiska fakulteten vid Legon University och medlem av Ghanas högsta domstol. Efter Rawlings maktövertagande mördades fyra justitieråd och Amissah tvangs 1982 i exil. Parallellen med dagens situation i Zimbabwe ger sig själv. I exilen arbetade han vidare med juridiska uppdrag, bl.a. var han ordförande i Botswanas högsta domstol. Krisen i Ghana lade sig efter hand och han hade kunnat flytta tillbaka till sitt land, om de medicinska resurserna där hade räckt till för den cancerterapi som krävdes.
År 1983 vann han NOMA-priset för bästa afrikanska bok i alla kategorier för en lysande framställning om straffrättsförfarandet i Ghana.
Hans internationella uppdrag var många. Under 1972 var han Woodrow Wilson Scholar vid Smithsonian Institution i Washington D.C. och gjorde ett så starkt intryck att han engagerades som gästprofessor vid University of Virginia i Charlottesville, ett fint gammalt sydstatsuniversitet där en svart professor kort dessförinnan hade betraktats som en omöjlighet.
Han representerade sitt land i den expertgrupp som formulerade FN:s modell för skatteavtal mellan i-länder och u-länder, och det dröjde inte länge förrän ordförandeskapet lades i hans händer. Det förvaltades väl.
Bland många andra uppdrag kan nämnas ledarskapet för Samväldets observatörsgrupp i Sydafrika 1992, liksom för utredningen av Araly-incidenten i Sri Lanka 1993, och medlemskapet i Samväldessekretariatets skiljedomstribunal liksom i fjolårets utredning av rättssystemet i Trinidad och Tobago. Överallt vann han respekt för sin blixtrande begåvning, sin omutliga rättskänsla och sitt anspråkslösa och vinnande väsen.
Han var sedan 1956 gift med Stella f. Mattson, en blond finlandssvenska som med sin personlighet och sin makes stöd elegant övervann de fördomar mot blandäktenskap som till en början frodades både i Åbo-trakten och i den ghananska släkten. Sonen Ralph, länge i Tromsö och nu i London, blev till sin fars glädje ett världsnamn som skapare av en berömd hemsida för handelsjuridisk dokumentation. Döttrarna Tonesan (Tossan) och Juliet, båda yrkesverksamma i Bermuda resp. London, är också bland de sörjande.
Austin Amissah behövde ingen “affirmative action”, ingen positiv diskriminering. Han var en med rätta stolt representant för ett land med stora mänskliga resurser. Så mycket vemodigare att han skulle behöva tillbringa många år i exil.
I was privileged to serve for 6 years as a member of the Court of Appeal of Botswana under the Judge Presidency of the late Austin Neeabeohe Evans Amissah. He was without question the fairest presiding officer I ever encountered in my career. He had a profound impact on all those who worked with him in the administration of justice because of his dignity and judicial insight.
As a result he had the confidence of his colleagues and of practitioners. He was an outstanding lawyer. Indeed the many landmark judgments he delivered in Botswana constitute the best evidence of this fact. But above all, he had a rich experience of life which contributed to the wisdom which he brought to bear when passing judgment. Fairness was for him a key objective to achieve an outcome of the judicial process. He was kind, considerate and gentle almost to a fault.
One has many friends in life, but out opportunities to love people are limited. Those of us who knew Austin well loved him because of the many wonderful qualities which he unfailingly exhibited towards all those who knew him.
He was a loving, caring, loyal husband with a very deep commitment to his children. I know how much they will miss him. So will we all. He was one of the most irreplaceable people I have ever known.
Mrs Stella Amissah 1 West Gate Terrace London SW10 9BT
Fax No: (0944)(207) 370 5895
My dear Stella and family,
I am saddened by Austin's death. Arethe and I convey our sympathy to you and your family.
Austin had a marked effect on my life. Ever since I joined the Court, we became brothers in more than the formal meaning of the word referring to fellow judges. His wisdom, his sense of justice and his patience were qualities so obviously ingrained in him that it was inevitable that they would affect us around him. Austin's judgements will serve as a memorial to his work.
Our long walks at sunrise or at times in the evenings on the hills around Lobatse gave us an opportunity to talk not only about our work, but what was happening in Africa and more particularly in apartheid South Africa. His concern about the denial of justice in South Africa, the political prisoners and more particularly Nelson Mandela gave us courage to continue.
We will always remember the meeting between Austin and Nelson in our garden when Austin said that he believed that no African could feel free whilst Nelson was in jail and the joy he expressed on his release.
I think of Austin daily whenever I open my pocket diary that he sent me at the end of each year.
May you and your family live for a long time to come, proudly remembering Austin as an exemplary human being.
Our best wishes GEORGE and ARETHE
Legal Resource Centre Johannersburg
23 February 1994
The Hon Mr Justic Austin Amissah 1 Westgate Terrace LONDON SW10 9BT United Kingdom
My dear Austin,
You were too generous in your praise in the opening statement of the January 1994 session. I thank you for it. Michael Modlhabi dutifully sent me a copy shortly after it was delivered. I did not write to thank you earlier as I was expecting Bill Schreiner to come back for us to have a good lunch (that we had yesterday) for him to report to me fully how the session was.
I was sorry to hear that you were not well, but glad that you were much better towards the end of the session. I hope that you have fully recovered. Bill told me that of his walks with Stella. I was glad to hear that she is well and was with you during the difficult session.
Bill told me that you speculated about my future over dinner at the Cumberland Hotel and elsewhere. I was nominated for inclusion on the list for election to the Constituent Assembly I declined the nomination I do not think that parliament is for me. The thought of my being disciplined by a party whip was enough to dissuade me. I am enjoying what I am doing at the Legal Resources Centre very much. I have no plans to change this. My friends tell me that I may be called upon to assume other responsibilities. I don't know that I will want to look for a different job at this stage of my life.
Austin, I want to thank you for what you have done for me while a member of your Court in Botswana. I have learnt more from you than any other person throughout my career, particularly how one should behave as a judge. I admire your intellectual honesty, your respect for the views of your brethren on the bench, your insistence that justice should be seen to be done. The decorum in the court when you presided differed from my own manner nurtured by the aggression that inevitably creeps into one's personality during the years of practice in an adversary system. Thank you for your patience. I know that I was not a very compliant pupil. You almost reformed me. I want to thank you for that too.
I looked forward to the sessions, I will miss you, Stella and other members of the court, particularly Judge Aguda, as I am less likely to be able to keep in touch with him as easily as with you and Stella and other members of the court.
Keep well. Your family, we, your friends, and the people of Botswana need you for many years to come.
Yours as ever,
George
22 January 2001
Dear Stella
One makes good friends in one's life. People who you like, respect and value. But there are very few people of whom you can say that you have learned to love them, because they meant so much to you.
Austin Amissah was such a person. He was a man of quality. His dignity, gentleness, care and compassion endeared him to all who knew him, and he had a very special place in our hearts.
Ann and I were shocked and dismayed to learn last night that he had passed away over the weekend. When I spoke to him on Thursday, I said that your not being able to come this February was only a postponement of a visit we had looked forward to for such a long time. All we can say now is how much we regret that we will be denied the pleasure of sharing the beauty of our homeland with you both.
Stella, please know that we have a home which is there for you anytime you can come. It will be good for you to have a real change of scenery sometime in the months ahead. Cape Town may offer you this opportunity. The apartment, semi-detached to our home, is peaceful and private. We would love to give you our love and support in such a tangible way.
As a judicial officer, Austin was a role model for all those who preside over Courts of Law. Kind and compassionate, always fair, but also firm without ever being discourteous. I learnt so much from him especially to be patient even when one's tolerance was stretched to the limit by incompetence and inefficiency.
Please convey to Tossan and the other children our condolences. I know the grief you all feel. May peace be granted to you and may the wonderful memories you have of this very special man sustain you in the months and years ahead.
Austin Amissah was one of the most irreplaceable people I ever met. He will be missed by all who knew him. As a colleague and as our friend we pay homage and tribute to a remarkable man.
With much love and compassion from
Jan and Ann
Dear Mrs Amissah, the children and family of the late Austin,
I wish you all a long life.
I count myself amongst those privileged to have known Austin.
The first time I saw him, which would have been in about 1982, I was struck by his appearance. As he entered the court room in Botswana, he bore the countenance of a distinguished nobleman. A satisfying contrast to one who had the interest of the individual so close to this heart.
There are very few who embody all that is great in man. He was one of them. An intellect equalled only by his humanity. His great mind, which could perceive so much that was good and bad in human conduct, did not externalise itself in self aggrandizement or arrogance. No, it was revealed by his inner confidence, ability to appreciate competing views and majesty of reasoning in selecting one above the other.
He has left an indelible mark on Botswana jurisprudence. His legacy is to have secured the protection and advancement of fundamental rights, and a respect of civil liberties, for the people of Botswana. He was a powerful and harmonising force as President of the Botswana Appeal Court.
On a personal level, he has been a great influence on me. If I am selected to the judiciary, I would wish to pursue justice in the same fashion as he did. As a practitioner in the Botswana Court of Appeal, I will miss him - as I am sure is the case for all my colleagues.
I am certain his pain was lessened by passing away when he did.
My deepest condolences.
Brian Spilg
We are gathered here today to mourn a great son of Ghana, a lawyer, a scholar, a teacher and a mentor, whose impact on legal education in Ghana has been tremendous.
As a scholar, he authored a number of books among which are Criminal Procedure in Ghana and The Contribution of the Courts to Government: A West African View, as well as articles, which are invaluable tools for both students and practitioners. On the occasion of the Centenary Celebration of the Supreme Court in Ghana, the Faculty published a book of Essays in Ghanaian Law to which he contributed an essay on The Supreme Court One Hundred Years Ago. As a teacher, he was responsible not only for training lawyers for the nation, but more importantly, for nurturing what he perceived to be talent and encouraging them to blossom and eventually serve the Faculty as teachers of law.
By special arrangement with the then Chief Justice, he was seconded to the Faculty of Law and was appointed Dean from 1969. He served as such until 1974. He succeeded the last expatriate Dean at a point when the Faculty needed decisive leadership. He rose to the challenge and ensured that the Faculty produced its own crop of teachers. To this end he looked out for, and encouraged all who had potential, nurtured and had them trained. This is an enduring legacy and the Faculty is grateful for it.
He endeared himself to most students who passed through his hands with his attention to the details of their period of study in the Faculty. He was an excellent teacher who carried his students with him on the journey through his lectures in Criminal Procedure and Evidence.
During his tenure of office as Dean, the whole issue of lecturers and private practice came up for serious debate within the University. He took the view that lecturing and practice were not incompatible and that a certain level of exposure in the law courts for lecturers was necessary if the lecturers were to do a good job of teaching. Thanks to him, the Law Faculty has been the one Faculty in the University that was able to maintain a reasonable number of lecturers, especially at a time when there was a massive exodus of lecturers from our Universities.
A firm believer that a Faculty and a University should have opportunities and avenues for interacting with other scholars and institutions worldwide he, together with the then Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alex Kwapong forged links with Oxford University, his alma mater. Under the exchange with Oxford University, renowned law lecturers like the late Professor Sir Rupert Cross came to teach at the Faculty, while some of the young lecturers at the Faculty at the time had the opportunity to spend time at Oxford teaching and doing research.
Long after he had left the Faculty and was living abroad, we continued o call upon him for various services, including the assessment of academic publications for promotions within the Faculty. He was always willing to oblige even when it clearly meant extra stress on him.
On the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Law, which coincided with the 50h anniversary of the University of Ghana, the Faculty invited him to deliver the anniversary lecture, an invitation which he graciously and happily accepted. He delivered an excellent lecture on the 5th of March 1999, titled The Law, Lawyers and Litigants in Society. He ended the lecture by charging the Faculty not to rest on its oars and bask in its achievements but to face the tremendous challenges that have come in the wake of modern developments so that it will continue to achieve even greater heights.
The Faculty honoured him with an award among many others on the occasion of the 40th anniversary. The final paragraph of the citation on that occasion read For your tremendous contribution to legal education in Ghana, the Faculty is proud to confer this honour on you on the occasion of its 40th Anniversary and the Golden Jubilee of the University of Ghana.
We shall dearly miss his good counsel and occasional visits, but we say that:
To live in the hearts of those who love you is not to die.
Fare thee well till we meet again.
I joined the Botswana Court of Appeal in July 1994 and was warmly welcomed by its President, Judge Austin Amissah and his lovely and charming wife Stella. And that started an association that was to stretch for seven years until his death in January.
At our first meeting I was immediately conscious that I was in the presence of a man of immense stature and a remarkable human being. Behind his quiet, low-key personality lay a person of deep intellect, with an incisive mind and possessed of the gift of being able to express himself clearly and succinctly in perfect English. As a judge he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law and an ability to appreciate and analyse facts, enabling him to reach the correct conclusions in the cases with which he dealt. Apart from his outstanding skills as a judge, he was a man of extraordinary compassion not only towards those he judged, but also to people generally. He loved his fellow man.
He read widely, enjoyed good music, appreciated art and loved nature and the environment. He was a caring and affectionate husband and father. He adored Stella and his family.
I was privileged to be his friend. He enriched my life, as he did the lives of all who were fortunate to know him. His passing has deprived us all of one of whom it could truly be said: This was a man.
Austin Neeabeohe Evans Amissah was born on 3rd October 1930. He was the third of eight children born to Mr. Ambrose Bennacle Amissah (Barrister at Law of the Inner Temple) and Mrs. Dinah Amissah.
Austin was educated at Achimota School and continued his education in St Bees School, Cumbria, England. He proceeded to Jesus College, Oxford University, where he graduated in 1954 with a Bachelor of Law degree. In 1959 Oxford University conferred on him his Masters Degree. He was called to the English Bar by the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn in June 1955. He then did his pupillage in the Chambers of Sir Dingle Foot Q.C. and began a public service career in the law profession on his return home.
In October 1955 he was employed as Assistant Crown Counsel by the then Government of Ghana. He rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming in quick succession Crown Counsel, Senior State Attorney, Principal State Attorney and Director of Public Prosecutions. Early in 1966, after a period of almost 11 years service, he reached the pinnacle as a State Prosecutor when he was appointed as the Attorney General of Ghana. In October 1966, at the age of 36, he was appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal and his career on the Bench began. In 1969 the Judicial Service ran the risk of losing him to another public institution, namely the University of Ghana, where he was already a part-time lecturer in Criminal Law. It is common knowledge that the Judicial Service after much pleading from the University of Ghana, Legon, seconded him to the University as Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law. His secondment was intended to last two academic years, but lasted twice as long as the Judiciary was prepared to release him. This can only be regarded as a testimony of excellent performance in the academic world.
Austin loved to read and was usually surrounded by books. He read widely outside the confines of the Law. He believed that the training of lawyers was of paramount importance for the State. Consequently he shared his rich experience with students through his books Criminal Procedure in Ghana and The Contribution of the Courts to Government - A West African View. The first of these, which won him the coveted Noma Award in 1983 and also the Ghana Book Award, has become a widely used textbook.
While in the University he trained a number of law students, some of whom have become prominent members of the profession both in and out of the country. During his tenure of office at the University, he spent a year and a half in the United States. First in Washington as a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution and then as Visiting Professor at the School of Law in the University of Virginia. He also taught at the famous Harvard Law School.
Austin was anything but a recluse and kept a busy schedule outside adjudication. He was the chairman of the Law Reform Commission for six years, Chairman of the Council of Law Reporting, Chairman of the Academic Advisory Committee of the University of Cape Coast, Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry in Sri Lanka on the Araly Point Explosion, Consultant to the Commonwealth Secretariat on South African constitutional matters, Leader of the Commonwealth Observer Mission to South Africa and Chairman of the Committee appointed into the organisation and operation of the Ghana State Insurance Corporation. In addition to these, he held membership of and contributed to the realisation of the objectives of a number of local and foreign organisations. These included the General Legal Council, Legal Class Appointment Board, Police Council, Executive of the Commonwealth Legal Education Association, Advisory Committee appointed by the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, Committee appointed by the Commonwealth Secretary General to review forms of legal co-operation in the Commonwealth and the United Nations Group of Experts on Tax Treaties between Developed and Developing Countries.
Even though Austin appreciated the vital importance of the administration of justice to every nation, including Ghana, his interest became increasingly focused on law as an infrastructural support for development, on international income taxation and on legal aspects of the Economic Community of West African States. As questions on these matters do not normally come before our courts for determination, he decided, after ten years of service on the Bench, to retire to pursue these interests. He accordingly retired in December 1976 and set up a consultancy in Accra which he later moved to London in 1982. As a result of operating his consultancy from London, he travelled extensively. In 1981 he was appointed to the Court of Appeal of Botswana and in 1988 became the President of the Court. He served the court in that capacity until his untimely demise.
On his retirement from the Ghana Bench, the then Head of State wrote:
I have reviewed with profound appreciation the priceless contribution Mr. Justice Amissah has made to jurisprudence of Ghana throughout his twenty years of dedicated and exemplary service and particularly during the ten years he served as a judge of the Superior Court of Judicature. His pronouncements on legal matters, in and outside the legal service, bear ample testimony of his erudition and clarity of thought for which he will long be remembered.
The then Chief Justice, Justice Azu Crabbe, wrote in similar vein:
I wish on my own behalf, and on behalf of your other colleagues on the Bench, to place on record our deepest appreciation of your valuable contribution to the jurisprudence of this country. Our Law Reports will forever remain an eloquent testimony of your erudition and clear thinking.
Personally, I think that this country owes you a debt of gratitude for your inestimable service not only in legal service generally but also in other fields where your expertise as a lawyer was required.
Austin was a family man, a perfect gentleman and a man of principle. He was generous to a fault and served as a role model, not only for his younger siblings, but also to a large number of people. His colleagues found him to be a friendly person, endowed with great wisdom yet with a pleasing informality of manner, which put everybody at ease. He did not take anyone for granted and was respected by most people who came into contact with him. He was much loved by many and left behind friends the world over. In recent times, he was elevated to the status of grandfather and nothing pleased him more than playing with the grandchildren.
He left behind a wife, Stella, and three children: Ralph, Tonesan and Juliet. He was also blessed with two delightful grandchildren - Leah and Erika.
MAY HE REST IN PERFECT PEACE
AMISSAH - Austin Neeabeohe Evans, died in London on 20th January 2001 aged 70. Services at Lincoln's Inn Chapel, London on Friday 9th February at 2.00pm and at Ridge Church, Accra, Ghana on Tuesday 27th February. No flowers please but donations if desired to the Imperial Cancer Research Fund c/o Chelsea Funeral Directors, 260b Fulham Road, London SW10 9EL, 020 7352 0008.
Occupation:
● Legal Consultant/Judge.
Born: Accra, Ghana; October 3, 1930.
Educated:
● Achimota School, Ghana;
● St. Bees School, Cumbria, England;
● Oxford University (B.A., 1954; M.A., 1959);
● Lincoln's Inn, London (Barrister-at-Law, 1955).
Professional Career:
1955-62 Crown-Counsel/State Attorney, Attorney General's Department, Ghana;
1962-66 Director of Public Prosecutions, Ghana; 1966 (Feb-Oct) Acting Attorney General;
1966-76 Judge of the Court of Appeal, Ghana (except in 1969-71, the final appellate court in Ghana); retiring voluntarily from the Court on December 31 1976;
1977-78 Legal Consultant - dealing with investment and commercial matters;
1979 Commissioner (Minister) of Justice and Attorney General, and Commissioner for Local Government, Ghana;
1979 (Oct.) resumed as Legal Consultant in Ghana;
1981- Judge of the Court of Appeal, Botswana; President of the Court (since Jan.1988);
1982- Also pursuing professional activities as Legal Consultant from base in London.
1992-97 Arbitrator in case between an American corporation as claimant and Republic of Ghana and Ghana Railways Corporation as respondents.
1998 Arbitrator, Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal
Other Positions Held in Ghana
1969-74 Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana (on secondment from the Ghana Court of Appeal).
1967-82 Chairman or Sole Commissioner of several Commissions or Committees of Enquiry, on matters including: the organisation and operation of Ghana State Insurance Corporation; the External Loans contracted by Ghana Government between 1977 and 1978; advising the President and Parliament on the remuneration of the principal officers of State; advising on the review of the Master Agreement and other agreements entered into between the Government of Ghana, Valco, the World Bank and governmental agencies in the U.S. and U.K in connection with the financing and construction of the Volta River Project;
1969-75 Chairman, Ghana Law Reform Commission;
1970-82 Member of several Councils and Committees, including: Council for Legal Reporting (1970-72) - (Chairman, 1974-76); Council of the University of Cape Coast and Chairman, Academic Advisory Committee (1971-76); Legal Class Appointments Board (1968-72) - (Chairman, 1979); Police Council (1979-81); Ghana Medical School Council (1980-82);
1969-81 Managing Trustee, Valco Fund (Trust fund established by the Volta Aluminium Co. Ltd. of Ghana, subsidiary of Kaiser Aluminum of U.S) for the promotion of education, health social welfare etc. in Ghana).
1977-78 and 1981-85 Director, UAC (Ghana) Ltd., the largest private commercial concern in Ghana.
International Activity
1968-79 Member, U.N. Expert Group on Tax Treaties between Developed and Developing Countries; (Chairman of Group, 1975-79);
1971-75 Member, Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Legal Education Association;
1973 (Jan-Dec) Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, (based in the Smithsonian Institution Building) Washington D.C, U.S.A. (during period also conducted some seminars and lectures at the Harvard Law School, International Section);
1974 (Jan-June) Visiting Professor of Law, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A;
1974 Member of Advisory Committee appointed by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Washington D.C., U.S.A on the future of the Peace Corps;
1974 Member of three-man Committee appointed by Commonwealth Secretary General under chairmanship of Sir Roy Marshall (with Professor John Ll. Edwards as third member) to review forms of cooperation in legal matters within the Commonwealth;
1979 Chairman of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva seminar on Trade Mark problems in Developing Countries;
1992 (Oct-Dec) Leader, Commonwealth Observer Mission to South Africa;
1993 Chairman, Presidential Commission of Inquiry (with Sir Kenneth Keith of New Zealand and Justice Muhammadu Uwais of Nigeria, since then Chief Justice) on the Araly Point Explosion, which resulted in the death of several Senior Military Officers, Sri Lanka.
1994- Director, Foreign and Colonial Emerging Markets Investment Trust PLC. (U.K)
1996- Member, The Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal.
2000 Member, Presidential Commission of Enquiry (with Lord Mackay of Clashfern as Chairman and Dr. L. M. Singhvi as the other member) into the Administration of Justice in Trinidad and Tobago.
Clients provided with Legal Consultancy Services include:
Bank of Ghana (1977-78 and 1980); Social Security Bank, Ghana (1977-78); National Investment Bank, Ghana; Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana (1978); Ministry of Finance, Ghana (1980); Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana (1980-82) (and again since 1997); African Export Import Bank (Afrexim) (1993-) (pre-inception founding documents); Selmer-Sande A/S of Norway (1980-); FMO, the Netherlands (1981); Nordic Fisheries Management Company (NORFICO) A/S of Norway (1984-); WIPO, Geneva, (1985): consultant on the compilation of The Situation of Industrial Property in the Countries of Africa (published in 1985); African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) General Secretariat, Brussels (ACP) (1987-91) on the development of the General Conditions for Contracts of Construction, Supply and Services for EDF funded projects and the drafting and negotiation with the EEC of the ACP/EEC Arbitration Rules; Elders Resources Finance Limited (ERFL), Australia, through their lawyers Freehill, Hollingdale & Page in Perth, Western Australia: (1988-90); Fidelity Bank of Philadelphia, U.S.A. (1990);
1989-90 Commonwealth Secretariat, Technical Assistance Group, London: advised the Government of Swaziland in negotiations with foreign companies and the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) over transfer/acquisition of shares and public policy issues involved in the ownership of Usutu Pulp Co. Ltd., the largest single industry in Swaziland;
1991 Commonwealth Secretariat assignment as Senior Legal Consultant to advise the Preferential Trade Area of Eastern and Southern African States (PTA) with respect to its Tribunal for the settlement of disputes between Member States and with respect to its Appeals Board for the hearing of appeals of staff members from the administrative decisions of the Secretary-General;
1992-94 Engaged on USAID funded project to provide legal infrastructural support for financial sector in The Gambia, involving drafting of financial and commercial legislation (together with Dr. Albert Fiadjoe of the Law Faculty, Barbados, University of West Indies);
1993 Also engaged as Consultant to review the scope and functions of the Ministry of Justice, The Gambia.
1994 Consultant to the Commonwealth Secretariat on South African constitutional matters.
1994 Engaged by Commonwealth Secretariat (ELAS) (with Professor Ross Cranston of the London School of Economics) to review the Ghana Companies Code in relation to the legislation of the Ghana Stock Exchange. 1995-96 Engaged by the Commonwealth Secretariat (ELAS) to join Dr. K. Date-Bah and Mr. Makbul Rahim of ELAS to do a diagnostic survey of the commercial laws which impede investment in Ghana.
1996-97 Consultant in a GTZ funded project to look into the reorganisation of the Attorney-General's Chambers of Namibia.
1997- Consultant to the Volta River Authority of Ghana.
1997- Member of a Consultancy selected by the Government of Ghana, for a World Bank funded project on human resource development and law library facilities in the legal sector.
Membership of Professional Organisations etc.
Member: - Ghana Bar Association; - British Institute of International and Comparative Law; - American Society of International Law; - International Bar Association; - Commonwealth Lawyers Association; - London Court of International Arbitration - President of its Pan African Council;
Member: - Chartered Institute of Arbitrators;
Member - WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center Domain Name Dispute Resolution Panel
Fellow: - Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Publications include:
● Criminal Procedure in Ghana (Sedco Press) (1982): Winner of the NOMA Award for Publication in Africa, 1983 (venue of presentation-Harare, Zimbabwe); also winner of the Ghana Book Award, 1983;
● The Contribution of the Courts to Government: A West African View (Clarendon, Oxford University Press) (1982);
● Arbitration in Africa (joint editor with Judge Cotran) (Kluwer Law International) (1996).
● Several articles in Legal Journals and books on various topics, including the history of the Courts of Ghana, the administration of justice, arbitration and patents.
Personal Status
Married, 1956, to Stella (nee Mattsson); one son, Ralph, and two daughters, Tonesan (Amissah-Furbert), and Juliet.
Address: 1 Westgate Terrace, London SW10 9BT, England.
Tomorrow
And tomorrow the sun will shine again and on the path I follow it will unite us again in our happiness in the midst of this earth which breathes the sun...
And to the broad shore, blue with waves, we shall walk down, slowly and quietly; we shall look into each other's eyes without a word, and the wordless silence of happiness will fall over us.
John Henry Mackay set to music, in German, by Richard Strauss
License: All rights reserved. LEGAL CODE Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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