Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court has adjourned, indefinitely, two cases challenging the constitutionality of the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, commonly referred to as the Anti-LGBTQ Bill, for various reasons.<\/p>\n
In the case of the suit filed by broadcast journalist and lawyer, Richard Dela Sky, the court has given him up to May 17, 2024, to file a fresh motion paper with supporting affidavit and statement of case addressing new matters of facts he wishes to add.<\/p>\n
This followed a decision by the court to grant a leave to file a supplementary affidavit in support of an interlocutory injunction and also leave to amend the reliefs.<\/p>\n
Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, had opposed to the plaintiff\u2019s request for leave to file a supplementary affidavit, saying a close look at the relief shows no material difference from the reliefs originally sought.<\/p>\n
Thaddeus Sory, counsel for the Speaker of Parliament, urged that a fresh motion paper rather be filed by the plaintiff to clean the processes.<\/p>\n
In the case of writ filed by Dr. Amanda Odoi, the court has given counsel for Parliament time to re-file a fresh affidavit raising all matters of fact that they wish to bring to the attention of the court and any other process that they may deem relevant.<\/p>\n
This directive also came after the court was of the view that several paragraphs of the old affidavit \u201ccontain language that is intemperate and inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill<\/strong><\/p>\nParliament on February 28, 2024 passed the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, often referred to as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, which introduced further punishment for same-sex activities in the country.<\/p>\n
The bill, among other things, advocates prison terms for those who take part in LGBTQ+ sexual acts, as well as those who promote the rights of gay, lesbian or other non-conventional sexual or gender identities in\u00a0\u00a0 Ghana.<\/p>\n
The bill is yet to be transmitted to the President for a possible assent as a result of the two suits filed before the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Writs <\/strong><\/p>\nRichard Dela Sky, in his writ, is challenging the constitutionality of the passage of the bill and is seeking the Supreme Court to declare the bill null and void.<\/p>\n
He also contends that the passage of the bill violates provisions of the 1992 Constitution, particularly Articles 33(5), 12(1) and (2), 15(1), 17(1) and (2), 18(2), and 21(1) (a) (b) (d) and (e) of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
He avers that provisions in the bill raise profound concerns regarding the potential infringement of the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed to every Ghanaian by the Constitution.<\/p>\n
He is also seeking a \u201cdeclaration that Parliament exceeded its authority under Articles 106(2) and 108(a) (ii) in passing the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2024, as the same imposes a charge upon the Consolidated Fund or other Public funds of Ghana.<\/p>\n
\u201cA declaration that, upon the true and proper interpretation of Articles 102 and 104(1) of the Constitution, Parliament lacked the requisite quorum to pass the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values BilI, 2024,\u201d parts of the writ read.<\/p>\n
He is therefore seeking an order \u201crestraining the President of the Republic from assenting to the Human and Sexual Values Bill, 2024, as such action will directly contravene the Constitutional safeguards of liberties and rights of Ghanaians.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn injunction barring any attempts to enforce the provisions of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2024, particularly those criminalising same-sex relationships and related advocacy efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Amanda Odoi, a researcher, on the other hand is questioning certain provisions of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.<\/p>\n
She is seeking a restraining order to prevent the Speaker, the Attorney General, and the Clerk of Parliament from sending the bill to President Akufo-Addo for his approval.<\/p>\n
BY Gibril Abdul Razak<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo \u00a0 The Supreme Court has adjourned, indefinitely, two cases challenging the constitutionality of the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, commonly referred to as the Anti-LGBTQ Bill, for various reasons. In the case of the suit filed by broadcast journalist and lawyer, Richard Dela Sky, the court […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
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