What was the position of the Supreme Court of Ghana in the case of Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) vs. National Media Commission (NMC), 2016 in respect of NMC’s (NMC Content Standard) Regulations, 2015 (LI 2224)?

Regulation 3 of LI 2224 which required broadcasters to disclose the content of their programmes to the latter before broadcast was declared null and void. This was because, it was held to be in contravention with Article 162, 164 and 167 of the 1992 constitution which deal with censorship, freedoms of the media (such as expression) & it’s exceptions and the function of the National Media Commission respectively.

The Supreme Court cited the case of REPUBLIC V INDEPENDENT MEDIA CORP, where the restriction on media freedom was upheld because the measures taken were reasonably required for the protection of national security, public order and public morality (governed by Art. 164), however this was not the case here and there was no legal justification provided by the defendants

Reg. 3 was therefore declared null and void and with it Reg. 4 - 11, which where classified simply as vehicles to ensure that Reg. 3 was complied with and thus were also null and void.