Dr Dominic Ayine
The Attorney General (AG) has filed an application before a High Court in Accra, urging it to dismiss a suit filed by suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo seeking the enforcement of her human rights in the ongoing proceedings seeking to remove her from office.
According to the application, the High Court lacks jurisdiction to determine a matter which has already been previously determined by the Supreme Court or properly pending before it.
Justice Torkornoo is before both the Supreme Court and the High Court fighting for the enforcement of her right as guaranteed by the constitution since her suspension by President John Mahama.
Among the main complaints in her suits is the composition of the five-member committee probing the petitions.
Justice Torkornoo has also complained about the absence of clear allegations against her to which she should be putting up any form of defence, given the fact that she has, up to date, not been provided with the prima facie determination which resulted in the President suspending her.
She has also detailed some violations at the committee probing the petitions, including unwarranted searches conducted on her body before she appears before the committee.
While three cases are pending before the Supreme Court, she filed another at the High Court – the Human Rights Division, seeking the enforcement of her rights.
But in an affidavit in support of the motion seeking to strike out the suspended Chief Justice’s writ, the Attorney General argues that the High Court lacks the jurisdiction to consider or determine matters raised by the plaintiff, given the fact that she had filed similar writ at the Supreme Court which has jurisdiction over all other courts in the country.
“This is a proper case where this honourable Court ought to exercise its jurisdiction to strike out the Applicant/Respondent’s originating motion for judicial review,” the motion argues.
President John Mahama on April 22, 2025, suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo following the setting up of a five-member committee to probe the three petitions calling for her removal from office.
The suspension followed the finding of prima facie by the Council of State following the forwarding of the three petitions by the President.
The committee is chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, a Justice of the Supreme Court and also includes Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, a Justice of the Supreme Court, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, Major Flora Bazaanura Dalugo and Prof. James Sefah Dzisah.
The suspension of Justice Torkornoo has generated wide range of concerns, including calls for judicial independence.
Others have also raised concerns about the possible political nature of the handling of the petitions by the President, pointing to his personal comments about the Chief Justice in the past.
The Minority in Parliament has described the decision to suspend the Chief Justice as “tyranny”, and called for her reinstatement.
The Supreme Court has so far dismissed three separate applications calling for the revocation of the suspension and an order nullifying the steps taken by the President in respect of the petitions, as well as the setting up of a five-member committee to probe the petitions.
By Gibril Abdul Razak