Supreme Court dismisses injunction against Parliament

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the court could not interfere with issues before Parliament. Dismissing a plea for an injunction on the august House brought by an Accra businessman, Ransford France, the Presiding Judge, Mr. Justice Julius Ansah, cited a precedent –Tuffuor Vrs. Attorney-General – in which it was held that the court cannot interfere in issues before Parliament.

Mr. Justice Ansah stated further that the court could only do so if it was a case that Parliament was interfering in constitutional matters.

Legal luminaries explained this decision to mean that the court could now hear the substantive issue brought before it by the same businessman.

The businessman has petitioned the court to rule that the creation of the additional 45 seats by the Electoral Commission was illegal, and is praying the court to pronounce on it.

Even before the court could rule on the substantive case, he sought an injunction to restrain Parliament from sitting on the CI78 until the Supreme Court ruled on it.

Yesterday’s judgment did not mean that the substantive case is over. The court would go ahead and hear the substantive case.

In his ruling yesterday, Justice Ansah stated that for him to grant the injunction application, the plaintiff ought to have shown beyond reasonable doubt that he would suffer serious implications if the injunction was not granted.

On the contrary, His Lordship explained that it was rather the respondents, the Electoral Commission and the Attorney-General, which would have suffered serious implications with regards to a successful organisation of the 2012 elections, if the injunction were to be granted.

The legal team of the plaintiff was disappointed in the ruling. Mr. Atta Akyea, one of the counsels of the plaintiff, described the ruling as disappointing.

According to the counsel, Parliament should not be allowed to subvert the Constitution before the court took the necessary action.

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