Supreme Court Strikes Out Suit Challenging Criminalisation of Attempted Suicide

The Supreme Court has struck out a suit challenging the constitutionality of a law that criminalised attempted suicide. The decision came after Parliament amended the law, decriminalising attempted suicide and rendering the legal action moot.

A seven-member panel of the court, led by Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, addressed the state attorneys defending the suit during the hearing. The Justices inquired if the attorneys were aware of the new law passed by Parliament that had expunged the offence of attempted suicide. The attorneys confirmed their awareness, leading the court to strike out the suit. “Because of the passage of the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Act, 2021, this action is moot and, therefore, struck out,” Justice Baffoe-Bonnie ruled.

The other members of the panel included Justices Avril Lovelace Johnson, Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu, Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, Ernest Yao Gaewu, Yaw Darko Asare, and Richard Adjei-Frimpong.

In 2021, Christian Lebrechet Malm-Hesse, a lawyer, had filed a suit at the Supreme Court arguing that Section 57 (2) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), which made attempted suicide a criminal offence, was unconstitutional. Mr. Malm-Hesse contended that individuals who attempted suicide were suffering from mental disabilities and should receive psychological treatment rather than incarceration. He maintained that punishing a person for attempting suicide discriminated against them based on their disability and violated several articles of the 1992 Constitution, including Article 15 (respect for human dignity), Article 17 (freedom from discrimination), and Article 29 (rights of disabled persons).

Following advocacy from civil society organisations, psychologists, and other interest groups, Parliament amended Act 29 in March of the previous year, removing attempted suicide from the penal code. The private members' bill, sponsored by New Patriotic Party MP for Asante Akim Central, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, and National Democratic Congress MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor, aimed to recognise attempted suicide as a mental health issue. The amendment sought to support individuals in such situations, help decongest prisons, and reduce prosecutors' caseloads.

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