Justice Abdulai, a private legal practitioner, filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court, which was unanimously rejected.
The petition asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its prior judgment allowing Deputy Speakers presiding over Parliamentary sessions to vote.
Judgment
A seven-member bench of the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on March 9, 2022, that a Deputy Speaker of Parliament presiding over House proceedings has the power to vote on items for resolution and to be counted as part of the quorum for decision-making. As a result, the highest court in the nation has upheld the validity of Parliament's passage of the 2022 budget on November 30, 2021, during which the presiding First Deputy Speaker, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, counted himself as part of the quorum that reached that decision.
Order 109 (3) of the Standing Orders of Parliament, which prohibited a Deputy Speaker presiding over proceedings from voting on any question for resolution, was also deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Abuse of the Court Process vs. Grave Miscarriage of Justice
Lawyer Abdulai, who brought the case to the Supreme Court, claimed the verdict had "legal mistakes that have resulted in a terrible miscarriage of justice for the people of Ghana."
Deputy Attorney General Diana Asonaba, who opposed the review application, said it was a misuse of the judicial system since it failed to identify any unusual circumstances that should have been taken into account.
"The lengthy reference to past constitutions does not fulfill the evaluation standards." The plaintiff has failed to demonstrate how a miscarriage of justice occurred or any fresh information that should have been examined. "The current application is unjustified and an outright misuse of the legal system," she stated.
The court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, determined that the involvement of the Deputy Speaker of Parliament in voting was legal. "As a result, the application is rejected," Justice Dotse remarked.
Justices Dotse, Nene Amegatcher, Prof Ashie Kotey, Lovelace Johnson, Mariama Owusu, Celemenfe Honyenuga, Gertrude Torkonoo, Prof. Mensah Bonsu, and Emmanuel Kulendi made up a nine-member review panel that heard the case.