South Dayi lawmaker, Rockosn Nelson Dafeamekpor, has urged the Supreme Court to recognise that Parliament is another arm of government that must be respected.
He says that the ‘Supreme Court is not a supervisor of Parliament’.
To him, the action of the Supreme Court in hearing the matter is even contempt of Parliament therefore some officials of the court, especially the registrar should be cited for contempt of Parliament.
“The actions of the Supreme Court with regards to this case clearly is in contempt of Parliament. Some people need to be hauled before the Privileges Committee,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, November 2.
The Speaker, through his lawyers, applied to the court to quash an earlier verdict it gave on the matter asking him to stay his October 17 ruling which declared some four seats in the House vacant.
The apex court also dismissed the Speaker’s application that was seeking to set aside an earlier order of the court that stayed execution of the speaker’s ruling in declaring four seats vacant.
The Speaker also sought to set aside a writ filed by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, which had requested judicial intervention to prevent the Speaker from issuing further declarations on the disputed seats.
His lawyer Thaddeus Sory, Bagbin argued that the court had overreached by suspending his ruling, which he insisted was a parliamentary decision outside the judicial remit. His motion asserted that, as the Speaker’s actions were non-judicial, they should not be subject to stays of execution, a mechanism typically applied to court rulings.
“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.”
But in her ruling, the Chief Justice explained, “Given the irreparable harm that could be caused to the constituencies—comprising hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians—who would be left without MPs and without the possibility of by-elections, as well as the irreversible impact on MPs potentially losing their seats just weeks before the December 7 election, it is necessary for this court to address this dispute promptly rather than issuing a 10-day interim order on Article 97(1)(g) as interpreted by the Speaker.
She added that it is vital for the Supreme Court to expedite proceedings, bridging the standard 14-day period, by allowing the constitutional action to proceed through a statement of case, requiring parties to submit their claims within seven days, and moving quickly to resolve the issues presented.
According to the Chief Justice had all parties complied with these directives within the suggested timeline, the case could have been resolved within the 10 days the applicant requested.
Source:
3news.com
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