General News of Saturday, 30 March 2024

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Give us early date for hearing on anti-LGBT+ Bill injunction – Bagbin petitions Supreme Court

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin

Lawyers representing Parliament have formally petitioned the Chief Justice, urging the Supreme Court to expedite the hearing of two pending cases related to the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, also known as the anti-LGBT+ Bill.

In the petition, filed on Friday, March 28, by Sory@Law, Parliament emphasized the importance of expediting the hearings.

It referenced a similar case involving Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, where the Supreme Court prioritized the hearing despite the usual fourteen-day rule for scheduling.

"We refer to the applications for orders of interlocutory injunction in the above-intituled suits served on the first Defendant," the petition stated.

"The applications were filed on the 7th of March 2024 by the respective Plaintiffs in the said suits," it added.

The petition highlighted the urgency and substance of the cases, arguing that they shared similarities with Dafeamekpor's suit, which was filed later but given priority for hearing.

“It will accordingly be appreciated if the parties are given a very early date to expedite the hearing of the applications pending before the court,” the petition added.

Broadcast Journalist Richard Dela Sky and Dr. Amanda Odoi, a researcher at the University of Cape Coast, separately filed lawsuits against the anti-gay bill on March 7, seeking to prevent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo from enacting the bill into law.

These cases, citing constitutional violations of homosexual rights, have led President Akufo-Addo to withhold assent to the bill passed by Parliament.

Amidst concerns raised by the National Democratic Congress about the handling of the cases by the Supreme Court, Parliament's legal representatives are urging for prompt action to address the injunction against the anti-LGBT+ bill.

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