The State has filed a preliminary objection to the lawsuit aiming to remove the ban on female circumcision, also referred to as female genital mutilation or FGM, raising doubts about the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to hear the case.
Together with seven other people, Almami Gibba, the National Assembly Member for Foni Kansala, is contesting the legitimacy of changes made to the Women’s Act of 2010, Act Number 11 of 2015, which forbids FGM. They contend that a number of clauses in the 1997 Gambian Constitution that safeguard fundamental liberties and rights are violated by Sections 32A and 32B of the revisions.
The plaintiffs want the Supreme Court to rule that the National Assembly went beyond its legislative authority in passing the 2015 amendments, declare the amendments unconstitutional and void, and order the removal of Sections 32A and 32B and the reinstatement of the original Women’s Act Section 32.
State attorney Akawoo represented the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, while senior attorney Lamin J. Darboe represented the plaintiffs when the matter was called. State Counsel filed a preliminary objection, claiming that the Supreme Court lacks the authority to consider issues pertaining to the application or interpretation of the Constitution’s fundamental human rights provisions, Sections 17 to 33.
“Matters concerning the interpretation or application of Sections 17 to 33 of the Constitution are outside the jurisdiction of this Court. “Otherwise, the suit is incompetent,” said State Counsel Akawoo.
He also requested for the case to be dismissed with costs, arguing that the High Court should be the exclusive court to hear human rights cases.
The court postponed the case until April 9, 2025, after Lamin J. Darboe asked for more time to respond to the State Counsel’s objection. The future of the FGM prohibition in The Gambia is uncertain as the Supreme Court’s ability to hear the case’s substantive arguments would depend on its decision about the jurisdictional challenge.
