The Supreme Court is set to deliver its judgment today, Wednesday, December 18, 2024, on two high-profile lawsuits challenging the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, commonly referred to as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill.
Broadcast Journalist Richard Dela Sky and Dr. Amanda Odoi, a researcher at the University of Cape Coast, have filed separate suits questioning the legality of the processes leading to the bill’s passage by Parliament earlier this year. Both plaintiffs seek the Supreme Court’s intervention to determine the bill’s compliance with constitutional and procedural standards.
The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill prohibits LGBTQ+ activities, as well as their promotion, advocacy, and funding. While Parliament has passed the bill, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has not yet assented to it. The President has stated that he will wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling before taking any further action.
On March 5, 2024, private legal practitioner and journalist Richard Dela Sky filed a lawsuit at the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of Parliament’s passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.
Mr. Sky contends that the bill, passed on February 28, 2024, violates several provisions of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, including Articles 33(5), 12(1) and (2), 15(1), 17(1) and (2), 18(2), and 21(1)(a)(b)(d)(e). He argues that the bill raises significant concerns about potential infringements on the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed to all Ghanaians under the Constitution.
