Supreme Court Judge Retires

The Supreme Court judges saying goodbye to Justice Adinyira (front right)

One of the Supreme Court judges, who sat on the landmark Presidential Election Petition challenging the declaration of John Dramani Mahama as President by Electoral Commission Chairman Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, has retired.

Justice Sophia S.O. Adinyira brought her illustrious career to an end yesterday after 30 years of dedicated service on the bench.

Justice (retd) Adinyira had her legal training at the University of Ghana and the Ghana School of Law, and was called to the Ghana Bar in 1973.

She worked at the Attorney General’s Department before being appointed to the Koforidua High Court in September 1989 where she served her entire time as a High Court judge.

She was appointed as a Court of Appeal judge in 1999 and was later promoted to the Supreme Court in 2006.

She also served as a Judge of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal from July 2009 to June 2016 in New York and Geneva.

Justice (retd) Adinyira is a member of the International Association of Women Judges and chairs the National Multi-Sectoral Committee on Child Protection. She drafted a juvenile justice policy for Ghana supported by the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection and UNICEF. She is also a member of the General Legal Counsel, the body responsible for legal education in Ghana.

Valedictory Judgement

Justice (retd) Adinyira yesterday delivered her valedictory judgement in the case involving the Centre for Juvenile Delinquency and the Ghana Revenue Authority.

A seven-member panel she presided over by a unanimous decision declared as unconstitutional, null and void, the provision of Paragraph 2(8) of the first schedule of the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915), which prohibits a person, including juveniles, from filing a case in court unless that person quotes the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) provided by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

By Gibril Abdul Razak