Broadcaster Richard Dela Sky
The Supreme Court of Ghana has dismissed a review application regarding its decision to quash two legal challenges against the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, commonly known as the anti-gay bill.
The court dismissed the review application after broadcaster Richard Dela Sky, through his lawyer, Paa Kwasi Abaidoo, withdrew it during a session on Wednesday, February 26, 2025.
According to a report by citinewsroom.com, the nine-member review panel, presided over by Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, expressed displeasure with Richard Sky’s failure to appear in court before throwing out the application.
One of the justices on the panel, Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, could not comprehend why the applicant would convene nine justices only for the application to be withdrawn.
The state prosecutors requested that the bench impose a cost on Sky for his absence, but the justices agreed that a cost was unnecessary due to the nature of the case. They proceeded to dismiss the case, with the presiding judge chastising the applicant in his ruling.
Richard Sky filed the review application after the Supreme Court, in December 2024, dismissed two suits challenging the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill. The suits, filed by Sky and Dr. Amanda Odoi, a researcher at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), sought to nullify the bill’s passage, arguing that it did not follow the required constitutional procedures.
On Wednesday, December 18, 2024, a seven-member Supreme Court panel, chaired by Justice Lovelace Avril Johnson, unanimously dismissed the petitions. The court ruled that until a bill receives presidential assent, it does not constitute an enactment subject to judicial review of its constitutionality.
“The supposed interpretative jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is premature, as there is nothing on which to hang the exercise of the judicial review jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The Constitution itself has prescribed the mode by which an enactment, properly so called, can come into being, and by the principle of separation of powers, those processes must be exhausted to produce a tangible product that can have legal effect when properly assented to by the President, the Head of the Executive.
“Until there is presidential assent, there is no Act of Parliament over which the Supreme Court can exercise its original jurisdiction to strike down if found to be inconsistent with the Constitution, 1992. The plaintiffs’ action is therefore dismissed,” Justice Johnson stated.
The other members of the panel included Justice Samuel Asiedu, Justice Ernest Gawu, Justice Barbara Ackah-Yensu, Justice Adjei Frimpong, and Justice Yaw Darko Asare.
The Parliament of Ghana passed the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill on Wednesday, February 28, 2024. The bill, currently awaiting presidential assent, outlaws lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activities and criminalizes their promotion, advocacy, and funding. Individuals caught in these acts face a six-month to three-year jail term, while promoters and sponsors face three to five years in prison.
The bill requires presidential assent to come into force within seven days. However, if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo refuses to assent to it, Parliament, by a two-thirds majority vote, can pass it into law.
The Office of the President has instructed Parliament not to transmit the bill until the two legal actions against its passage in the Supreme Court are resolved. At a recent media engagement, the Speaker of Parliament ordered the Clerk of Parliament to transmit the bill to the president for a decision, accusing the executive and judiciary of conniving to undermine the authority of Parliament.
BAI/AE
You can also watch as Otumfuo destools Ohwimhene
Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown featuring NPP MP Patrick Yaw Boamah