The Executive Director of Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), Mr. William Nyarko, has predicted that the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025 passed by the Parliament last Friday, is likely to face constitutional challenges.
The ACILA Director said should President John Mahama assent to the Bill, it is likely to face constitutional challenges, not only on substantive grounds relating to alleged infringements of fundamental human rights guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution, but also on procedural grounds concerning compliance with the constitutional quorum requirements for parliamentary decision-making.
He explained that While Article 102 of the Constitution requires the presence of at least one-third of all Members of Parliament for the conduct of parliamentary business, Article 104 (1) imposes a higher threshold for the determination of any matter, including the passage of a bill, requiring that at least, half of all Members of Parliament be present and that the matter be decided by a majority of those present and voting.
Explaining his position, Mr Nyarko noted that in the current 276-member Parliament, at least 138 MPs must have been present when the Bill was passed.
Referring to Justice Abdulai v Attorney-General [2022] GHASC 1 in which the Supreme Court, per Kulendi JSC, affirmed that although Parliament may debate with one-third of its members present, Mr. Nyarko noted that Parliament cannot validly take a decision unless at least one-half of all MPs are in attendance.
The ACILA Executive Director queried whether the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill was passed with the constitutionally required quorum of 138 MPs present.
According to him, this critical question remains unanswered and may become a significant issue in any future constitutional challenge.
Mr. Nyarko has, therefore, stated that in the event that a court finds that the Article 104 quorum requirement was not satisfied at the time of the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025 by the Parliament last Friday, the resulting law could be declared unconstitutional and void notwithstanding its substantive provisions.
The Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) is a non-profit partisan research, education and advocacy think tank operating as a non-profit unit in the United States and a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Ghana.
It promotes good governance and frequently weighs in on constitutional and legal disputes within Ghana, champions compliance with international criminal law, monitors African states’ obligations to regional and international bodies and conducts public education, voter surveys and investigative journalism training to ensure political integrity and civic participation.
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