Justice Gertrude Torkornoo
The ECOWAS Community Court yesterday dismissed an application filed by former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, challenging her suspension and eventual dismissal as the head of Ghana’s Judiciary.
The court, sitting in Abuja, Nigeria, dismissed all the allegations made by the former Chief Justice, finding that her human rights were not abused as a result of the processes initiated and the actions taken by Ghana that culminated in her dismissal in September 2025.
The court also denied her request for $10 million as reparation for her suspension and subsequent dismissal as Chief Justice and a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Justice Torkornoo had filed a $10 million suit before the regional court alleging breaches of her rights to dignity, fair hearing and right to work when President John Dramani Mahama suspended her on April 22, 2025 following the setting up of a committee to probe three petitions calling for her removal from office.
She argued among others, a violation of her right to a fair hearing grounded in the fact that she was not given a copy of either the supposed prima facie determination or the reasons for the making of a prima facie finding by the President, before the President and the committee formed, suspended her.
“Fairness implies that the President, in making the prima facie determination with the Council of State, must specify the particular charges in respect of which a prima facie case is deemed to have been established and the reasons for the same,” the application argues.
While the case was pending, President Mahama removed Justice Torkornoo from office following the receipt of the report of a five-member committee that probed a petition filed against her.
She became the first ever Chief Justice to be removed from office in the 4th Republic following the recommendation of a committee probing allegations of misconduct and misbehaviour.
The state, through the Attorney General, had vehemently opposed the application, arguing that the former Chief Justice was given a fair hearing leading to her removal as both Chief Justice and a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Ruling
A three-member panel of the court comprising Justices Sengu M. Koroma (presiding), Dupe Atoki, and Gberi-be Ouattara yesterday dismissed the application in its entirety after holding that the applicant did not provide it with enough evidence to support the claim that the processes leading to and her eventual removal violated her right to work and dignity.
The court held that Ghana did not violate the right of the former Chief Justice to be heard under Article 7 of the African Charter as the nation fulfilled its obligation by affording the former Chief Justice an opportunity to submit written responses to the petitions, not only before the Presidential determination of whether a prima facie has been established but before her right to be heard crystalised before the five-member committee.
On the issue of whether Mrs. Torkornoo’s suspension and further removal from office as Chief Justice and Justice of the Supreme Court were unlawful and violated her right to work under Article 15 of the African Charter, the court held that she was informed of the petitions calling for her removal and was subsequently suspended after the finding of prima facie against her.
This, the court noted that it was convinced about compliance with Ghana’s Constitution and in the absence of any evidence that her suspension was arbitrary or motivated by ill will, “the court holds that the applicant’s right to work was not violated when she was suspended pending the determination of the petition by the committee.”
The court further noted that the petitions calling for her removal were duly transmitted to her to which she provided written responses before she appeared before the committee with counsel of her choice, and it was on the basis of the findings of the committee that she was dismissed from office.
“The court concludes that the applicant was not unfairly or arbitrarily dismissed from office as Chief Justice of Ghana,” the court held while dismissing the allegation.
On the issue of the $10 million reparation requested by the former Chief Justice, the ECOWAS Court noted that in view of its finding that the state did not violate her right under the African Charter, there will be no decision on the issue.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak