Absence Is Not Admission: Trial in Absentia, Negative Averments Fallacy, Presumption of Innocence, and the Architecture of Proof in Ghanaian Criminal Justice

Article 19(3) of the Constitution, 1992 provides that the trial of a person charged with a criminal offence shall take place in his presence, subject to two exceptions, the first being where he refuses to appear before the court for the trial to be conducted in his presence after he has been duly notified and afforded a reasonable opportunity to be present, and the second being where he conducts himself in a manner rendering the continuation of the proceedings in his presence impracticable and the court orders his removal.