The Supreme Court of Ghana has rejected an application by Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, who sought to overturn an earlier ruling that prevented him from declaring four parliamentary seats vacant.
This ruling intensifies the ongoing debate about the extent of the Speaker’s authority and the judiciary’s oversight in parliamentary affairs.
Speaker Bagbin’s application aimed to nullify the Supreme Court’s previous decision, which had temporarily restrained him from issuing declarations on the four contested seats. He also requested that the court dismiss a writ filed by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who had sought judicial intervention to halt further declarations by the Speaker on these seats.
Represented by lawyer Thaddeus Sory, Bagbin argued that the court had exceeded its authority by suspending his ruling, asserting that it was a parliamentary matter and beyond judicial reach.
His motion contended that because the Speaker’s actions are non-judicial, they should not be subject to stays of execution, a measure typically applied to court decisions.
Bagbin’s filing stated: “In terms of orders staying execution of rulings, the Supreme Court’s powers, under the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and statute, to stay execution of rulings are limited to rulings of itself and of courts lower in the judicial hierarchy but do not extend to a ruling of the Speaker of Parliament who is not part of the judicial hierarchy.”
The Speaker underscored that his decisions, as head of a separate arm of government, are distinct from judicial rulings and should therefore be excluded from judicial review mechanisms. He raised concerns that the court’s intervention could undermine Ghana’s constitutional separation of powers.
However, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, delivering the ruling on October 30, affirmed the Supreme Court’s authority to review parliamentary actions that are alleged to contravene constitutional principles.
The court rejected Speaker Bagbin’s application, reaffirming its jurisdiction over constitutional matters, even those involving parliamentary actions.
