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Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, Chief Justice would formally open the Criminal Sessions of the High Court for the Legal Year at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, January 13. The criminal session, formerly known as the Criminal Assizes, is a trial by a presiding judge and the jury for more serious criminal cases, which by law, cannot be tried by a judge alone. The cases include; murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, robbery, rape, use of offensive weapon and having unnatural carnal knowledge. A statement issued in Accra on Wednesday and signed by Mrs. Grace A. Tagoe, Director of Communications said: "Trials by judge and jury are trials by indictment and the jurors consist of seven lay persons who are summoned by public institutions, sworn in and empanelled." It explained that before those cases were brought before a trial judge and a jury, they pass through the District Courts for preliminary hearing or for committal proceedings to take place. "Because of the nature of the cases, the accused persons are held in custody," the statement said.