The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has cautioned that the increasing trend of citizens taking parliament to court over bills or their work risks rendering the legislature ineffective.
The Speaker’s remark in parliament on July 3, 2024, followed the Supreme Court’s scheduling of a July 17, 2024, ruling on whether to halt Parliament’s transmission of the Anti-LGBTQ+ bill to the President.
Amanda Odoi and Richard Sky are currently in court, asking the Supreme Court to stop Parliament from sending the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill to President Akufo-Addo until their case is heard.
But Bagbin argues that the court should not hear such cases until the President has signed a bill into law.
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“Let it be known that when it comes to law-making until all the processes in this House are exhausted, there is no business for anybody including the court to consider because the constitution and the enabling legislation take care of all these challenges. So, until it is a law, and assented to by the President, the judiciary has no jurisdiction,” Bagbin said.
He also warned that if his caution is ignored, Parliament risks losing its legislative powers.
“We have to take this seriously or else our legislative authority is being taken away from us by other agencies and arms of government. That should be resisted by the House or else your being here is of no consequence,” he said.
He added that he’s compelled to speak out due to the increasing number of legal writs he’s receiving related to parliamentary matters.
“But I am giving notice because daily, I’m being served with writs as a party on matters that are being considered by the House. That’s why I am compelled to say these things,” he added.
