Kofi Bentil, a private lawyer, stated that everyone must obey court rulings, even if they disagree with them. He emphasized that this is part of the rule of law.
He made these comments on Facebook after the Supreme Court rejected a request from the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to overturn an earlier ruling.
This ruling had put a hold on Bagbin’s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant.
During a court session on October 30, the Chief Justice explained that Bagbin’s request had no merit. Bagbin’s lawyer, Thadeus Sory, responded to the court’s decision.
The situation began when Alexander Afenyo-Markin filed a motion regarding Bagbin’s declaration of vacant seats. The Supreme Court then ordered a hold on Bagbin’s decision.
In his application, Bagbin argued that the Supreme Court wrongly suspended his ruling because it was not a judicial decision.
He asked the court to lift the hold on his ruling and to dismiss Afenyo-Markin’s motion, claiming that the Supreme Court should only have the power to stay decisions made by itself or lower courts, not by Parliament.
Bagbin’s motion stated that rulings made in Parliament are separate from judicial decisions and should not be subject to a stay of execution.
