[2011]DLSC2660 • November 2, 2011 • Supreme Court •
THE REPUBLIC vs. HIGH COURT (COMM. DIV.), ACCRA EX-PARTE: THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF GHANA
The Attorney General applied for supervisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to declare that the High Court Commercial Division erred in failing to refer constitutional questions arising from a power purchase agreement (PPA) between the Government of Ghana and Balkan Energy Ghana Limited to the Supreme Court, as required under Article 130(2) of the 1992 Constitution. The dispute centered on whether the PPA and its arbitration clause constituted an 'international business transaction' under Article 181(5) of the Constitution, which requires parliamentary approval before such agreements become enforceable.
read moreSOPHIA A. B. AKUFFO, JSC; Article 181 of the Constitution provides, in part, as follows:- “(1) Parliament may, by a resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all the members of Parliament, authorise the Government to enter into an agreement for the granting of a loan out of any public fund or public account. (2) An agreement entered into under clause (1) of this article shall be laid before Parliament and shall not come into operation unless it is approved by a resolution of Parliament. (3) No loan shall be raised by the Government on behalf of itself or any other public institution or authority otherwise than by or under the authority of an Act of Parliament. (4) .... (5) This article, shall with the necessary modifications by Parliament apply to an international business or economic transaction to which the Government is a party as it applies to a loan....” This is an application invoking the supervisory jurisdiction of the Court for the following reliefs:- “i....