A former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Joseph Kpemka, has described as “novel” the decision by specialised High Courts to continue substantive criminal trials during Ghana’s ongoing legal vacation. The development has sparked debate within the legal profession because the traditional practice during the legal vacation has been for designated Vacation Courts to focus mainly on urgent applications, motions and interlocutory matters. According to Mr Kpemka, substantive hearings have generally not formed part of the work of courts sitting during the vacation. The holiday judges sit to hear motions and urgent applications,” he said, stressing that the decision to continue full criminal trials represented a departure from the usual practice. The Abdul-Hamid case is among several high-profile criminal matters designated to continue during the legal vacation.