Legislature and Judiciary Conflict: Supreme Court Has Reference, Not Original Jurisdiction – Justice William Atuguba (Retired)

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Retired Supreme Court and former Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, Justice William Atuguba has weighed in on the ongoing legal tussle between the Speaker of Parliament and the Supreme Court regarding the declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant.

During an interview with Alfred Ocansey on TV3’s Key Point, Justice Atuguba asserted that the Supreme Court lacks original jurisdiction in this matter, describing its role as one of “reference jurisdiction” instead. He explained that the High Court is the proper authority to determine whether or not a parliamentary seat should be declared vacant. According to him, the Supreme Court’s involvement should only occur if a constitutional interpretation is required during the High Court proceedings. He, therefore, argued that the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction had not been properly invoked and advised the Court to step back to avoid exacerbating the current constitutional crisis facing the nation.

Justice Atuguba not only questioned the Supreme Court’s authority in this issue but also expressed concern over what he termed “political partisan expedience” overshadowing the legal and logical aspects of the case. He criticized the Chief Justice’s decision to appoint relatively junior justices for a case of significant constitutional importance when more experienced justices were available.

He further remarked that the Court’s recent decisions reflect a departure from established precedents in similar jurisdictional cases, which he attributed to the inexperience of the junior justices and the infiltration of political bias into the judiciary. Justice Atuguba acknowledged that this issue did not originate with the current administration, but he stressed that judicial partisanship has reached alarming levels under the current government.

In his concluding remarks, he cautioned that the real threat to Ghana’s democracy is the increasing politicization of the judiciary. He called for urgent measures to address this issue to protect the integrity of the Fourth Republic’s Constitution.

14 thoughts on “Legislature and Judiciary Conflict: Supreme Court Has Reference, Not Original Jurisdiction – Justice William Atuguba (Retired)

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