The Supreme Court has on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, dismissed a review application challenging its prior judgment on the constitutionality of Parliament’s passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, commonly referred to as the anti-gay bill.
The applicant, Richard Dela Sky, withdrew his application through his lawyer, Paa Kwasi Abaidoo, during the session.
The nine-member review panel, presided over by Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, officially struck out the case following the withdrawal. However, the bench expressed dissatisfaction with Sky’s absence from the proceedings.
Chief State Attorney Sylvia Adisu requested the court to impose costs on the applicant. Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu questioned the fairness of convening nine Justices only for the application to be withdrawn, while Justice Samuel Adibu-Asiedu suggested that, as a lawyer, Sky should have been present in court.
Conversely, Justices Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi and Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu opposed awarding costs, noting the public interest nature of the case. Ultimately, the panel struck out the case as withdrawn, with the presiding judge voicing strong disapproval of the applicant’s absence.
This development follows the Supreme Court’s unanimous dismissal of Sky’s initial petition on December 18, 2024, which challenged the constitutionality of the legislative process concerning the anti-gay bill. The court ruled that the suits failed to properly invoke its jurisdiction to interpret and enforce the Constitution, further holding that the bill had not yet been enacted into law and, as such, the suits were premature.
