The Supreme Court has dismissed the objection by Thaddeus Sory, the lawyer for the Speaker of Parliament, against Justice Ernest Gaewu’s participation in the case regarding the Speaker’s declaration of four vacant parliamentary seats.
Lawyer Thaddeus Sory called for Justice Ernest Gaewu to recuse himself, from the case arguing that his previous candidacy, as a parliamentary candidate, for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Volta Region, raises concerns about potential bias.
However, the Court presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, dismissed the objection and deemed the claim on Justice Gaewu’s affiliation with the NPP as misconceived.
She stressed that the case is about a constitutional issue, not a political party case.
Thaddeus Sory argued that Justice Gaewu’s inclusion in the case violates the court’s order because the processes used to invoke the court’s jurisdiction were filed incorrectly and violated the court rules.
“The first ground is that the writs or the processes on the basis of which the court’s jurisdiction was invoked for the order are void because they were filed in violation of the rules of the court,” he said.
” All they are saying in the affidavit of the position is that the court is capable of carrying, not by reference to rule 79 of the rules of the court, but order 81 of the high court rules. But what we are saying that that’s irregularity is incurable, and this court has reemphasized that in very recent cases.”
Lawyer Sory indicated that the court’s substantive jurisdiction to interchange the matter as a whole was not properly put.
He emphasized that even if the procedural error in how the case was brought before the court could be fixed (which it cannot), the court still lacks the substantive jurisdiction to hear the case.
Lawyer Sory claimed that the Supreme Court has no authority to decide whether a member of Parliament’s seat is vacant.
To him, that falls solely within the jurisdiction of the High Court emphasizing that this principle has been consistently upheld by the Supreme Court and there are no exceptions.
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Source: Jemimah Gati/ATLFMNEWS
