Vacant seat saga: Supreme Court’s judgment is declaratory – Atuguba

Retired Supreme Court judge Justice William Atuguba has asserted that the Supreme Court's ruling on the four vacant parliamentary seats is essentially a declaratory judgment.

The Supreme Court of Ghana, in a majority decision, has ruled that Speaker Alban Bagbin's declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant is unconstitutional.

The 5-2 decision, delivered at a brief court sitting on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, has reversed the Speaker's decision, which declared the four seats vacant after the incumbents filed to contest as independent candidates in the upcoming December polls.

In an interview on GHOne TV with Kodjo Mensah, former Justice William Atuguba clarified that the Supreme Court's ruling, which overturned the Speaker's order, serves as a declaratory judgment, essentially interpreting the Constitution.

He emphasized that Speaker Bagbin must enforce this ruling by either allowing the four MPs to retain their parliamentary seats or pursuing further action to challenge the decision.

"It is an interesting scenario because all it does is to say that those four MPs are still entitled to be in Parliament. That's what it says. Incidentally, at the end of it, I think they only did the interpretation.

"They didn't even order the Speaker to do anything. But it was the original one when there was no state action at all. But this one, they simply interpreted," the former Justice stated.

He continued: "So that's a declaratory judgment. A declaratory judgment, to enforce it, you've got to take further processes. There's nothing to execute, you know. So, at best, I mean, the only thing the Speaker has now is to allow those MPs to come. If he's not, you have to go back and take further processes to compel compliance. As I said, it's a declaratory judgment."