Try asking the following...
RULING
SOPHIA 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.
(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. a declaration that the failure of the High Court (Commercial Division) to refer the constitutional issues arising in Suit No. BDC 32/2010 ... to the Supreme Court is a breach of article 130 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana....”
ii. a declaration that each of the power purchase agreement between the Government of Ghana and Balkan Energy (Ghana) Limited dated 27th July 2007 (‘PPA’) and the arbitration agreement contained therein, being an international business transaction, neither is enforceable Parliamentary approval not having been obtained.
iii. any further or other relief....”
Taking into account the nature of the application, this Court can, at this juncture, deal properly with the first relief only since the 2nd relief presupposes the Court’s positive disposition of the 1st relief. And since the 2nd relief raises a more in-depth consideration of the substantive claim that came before the High Court, we may not simply deal with it as though it were merely a consequential relief necessarily flowing from our disposition on the 1st relief. In the circumstances of this matter, we must in the interest of justice make haste somewhat slowly.
Article 130 of the Constitution stipulates that:-
“(1) Subject to the jurisdiction of the High Court in the enforcement of the Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms as provided in article 33 of this Constitution, the Supreme Court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in -
(a) all matters relating to the enforcement or interpretation of this Co