\n
The Supreme Court has ruled against Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin\u2019s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant, siding with a challenge brought forward by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin.<\/p>\n
In Tuesday\u2019s ruling, the seven-member panel, led by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, delivered a 5-2 majority decision in favour of Afenyo-Markin. Chief Justice Torkornoo noted that a detailed explanation of the ruling will be provided later.<\/p>\n
The dispute revolves around Speaker Bagbin\u2019s interpretation of Article 97(1)(g) of the Ghanaian Constitution, which he cited as the basis for declaring the seats vacant. The move was met with legal and political pushback, with Afenyo-Markin arguing that Bagbin had exceeded his authority by bypassing judicial review and denying the possibility of by-elections in the affected constituencies.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court had previously issued an interim injunction to prevent the implementation of the Speaker\u2019s ruling. In response, Speaker Bagbin filed a counter-application, arguing that parliamentary decisions are beyond the judiciary\u2019s reach, as they pertain to non-judicial matters.<\/p>\n
Bagbin\u2019s counsel, Thaddeus Sory, contended that judicial intervention in parliamentary affairs infringes on the constitutional principle of separation of powers.<\/p>\n
However, Chief Justice Torkornoo dismissed Bagbin\u2019s application, affirming the Court\u2019s authority to intervene when parliamentary actions are suspected of violating constitutional provisions.<\/p>\n
She expressed concern over the potential disenfranchisement of constituents who might lose their parliamentary representation without the option of by-elections, especially with the upcoming December 7 general elections.<\/p>\n
The Chief Justice directed both parties to submit their statements of claim within seven days to ensure a swift resolution.<\/p>\n
This case raises critical questions about the separation of powers and the constitutional boundaries of parliamentary authority. It underscores the judiciary\u2019s role in upholding constitutional principles while navigating tensions with Parliament\u2019s autonomy.<\/p>\n
#GhanaPolls2024<\/strong><\/em>
#ElectionBureau<\/strong><\/em>
#CitiVerify<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Supreme Court has ruled against Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin\u2019s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant, siding with a challenge brought forward by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin. In Tuesday\u2019s ruling, the seven-member panel, led by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, delivered a 5-2 majority decision in favour of Afenyo-Markin. Chief Justice Torkornoo noted that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":248664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Supreme Court has ruled against Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin\u2019s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant, siding with a challenge brought forward by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin. In Tuesday\u2019s ruling, the seven-member panel, led by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, delivered a 5-2 majority decision in favour of Afenyo-Markin. Chief Justice Torkornoo noted that […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-12T10:04:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"headline\":\"Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-12T10:04:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":304,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/\",\"name\":\"Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-12T10:04:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":375},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/12\\\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/author\\\/ghanamma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats - Ghanamma.com","og_description":"The Supreme Court has ruled against Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin\u2019s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant, siding with a challenge brought forward by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin. In Tuesday\u2019s ruling, the seven-member panel, led by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, delivered a 5-2 majority decision in favour of Afenyo-Markin. Chief Justice Torkornoo noted that […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/","og_site_name":"Ghanamma.com","article_published_time":"2024-11-12T10:04:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":375,"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ghana News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"headline":"Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats","datePublished":"2024-11-12T10:04:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/"},"wordCount":304,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/","name":"Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-12T10:04:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Supreme-Court-Panel.jpg","width":750,"height":375},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/12\/supreme-court-overrules-bagbins-decision-on-vacant-seats\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Supreme Court overrules Bagbin\u2019s decision on vacant seats"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/author\/ghanamma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}