Anti-Gay Bill: Expedite action on two pending Cases – Parliament to Chief Justice

Lawyers of Parliament have formally requested the Chief Justice to fast-track track expedited hearing of two pending cases that relate to the Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, also known as the anti-LGBTQI+ Bill.

The request which was a form of a petition filed on Friday, March 28, by Sory@Law, Barristers and Solicitors of Parliament outlined the significance of expedited hearings.

The petition referred the precedence set by the Supreme Court in hearing a similar lawsuit filed by Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, whose action was rather filed latter than the two pending cases.

“We refer to the applications for orders of interlocutory injunction in the initiated suits served on the first Defendant. The said applications were filed on the 7th of March 2024 by the respective Plaintiffs in the said suits.

“The applications were served on the first Defendant together with the directive that they will be fixed for hearing fourteen (14) days after service of the said applications on the respondents to the applications, the first Defendant and the Attorney-General of the Republic of Ghana who is the second Defendant and respondent to the two applications.

“We have observed that in an identical situation, in the case of Rockson Nelson Este K. Dafeamekpor v The Speaker & Anor in which two applications for orders of interlocutory injunction were filed on the 218 and 25th of March respectively, the registry of the Court fixed the said applications for hearing notwithstanding the fourteen days rule above referred to resulting in their determination on the 27th of March 2024 although the application in the said suit was served on the first Defendant together with the regular fourteen days directive,” the Petition stated.

“The applications for injunction in the two suits above referred to, in our view, are identical to the Rockson Nelson Este K. Dafeamekpor suit filed later in time and share a lot in common with the latter said suit in terms of urgency and substance,” it added.

It would be recalled that Broadcast Journalist Richard Dela Sky and Dr Odoi, a Researcher at the University of Cape Coast have both separately filed lawsuits against the anti-gay bill, asking the court to prevent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo from enacting the bill into law.

Due to the pendency of these cases which pointed out Constitutional violations of homosexual rights, President Nana Akufo-Addo has declined assenting to the Bill passed by parliament.

The National Democratic Congress has also raised concerns about the manner the cases were being treated by the Supreme Court following the listing of Dafeamakpor’s action which was filed later.