Ghana’s Supreme Court Upholds Anti-LGBTQ Bill
Ghana’s Supreme Court, on Wednesday, affirmed the contentious Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill which restricts LGBTQ rights in the country.
The seven-member panel of the court led by Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson dismissed two suits challenging the bill which was approved by the country’s Parliament earlier this year.
The bill which has which has drawn international criticism imposes prison sentences of six months to three years for individuals engaging in LGBTQ sex.
Despite being passed by lawmakers in February, the bill will only become law if signed by outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is yet to make a decision.
Akufo-Addo, who is expected to hand over on January 7 to John Mahama, who won the recent presidential poll, previously stated he would await the Supreme Court’s ruling on the bill’s constitutionality before taking action.
Delivering Judgement on Wednesday, Justice Lovelace-Johnson held that the bill was premature as it was yet to receive presidential assent.
She said “It will be premature for this court to exercise its interpretive and enforcement jurisdiction to intervene. Consequently, the action fails.
“Until there is presidential assent to the bill, there is no act for the Supreme Court to overturn,” she added.
The plaintiffs, Ghanaian journalist Richard Dela-Sky and academic researcher Amanda Odoi, in their suits, argued that the bill violated Ghana’s Constitution.
Ghana’s Supreme Court Upholds Anti-LGBTQ Bill is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
