Former Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, has filed an application for judicial review at the High Court, challenging the legality of her removal from office as Supreme Court Judge by President John Dramani Mahama.
In the motion, filed through her counsel, Justice Torkornoo is seeking multiple declarations that the President acted outside the powers conferred by the 1992 Constitution when he issued a removal warrant on September 1, 2025, which stripped her of both the office of Chief Justice and as a Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature.
She contends that the procedure set out under Article 146 of the Constitution, which mandates an inquiry by a properly constituted body before a Superior Court judge can be removed, was not followed.
Among the reliefs sought, Justice Torkornoo is asking the High Court to:
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Declare that the President has no authority to remove a Justice of the Superior Court without adhering to the constitutionally required process.
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Declare that jurisdiction to hear any removal petition against a Justice of the Superior Court lies solely with a body established under Article 146(4).
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Declare that the President’s warrant of removal is “unlawful, null, void, and of no effect.”
The case, titled The Republic v. Attorney-General, Ex Parte Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, invokes Articles 23 and 141 of the Constitution as well as Order 55 of C.I. 47.
The application is expected to test the scope of presidential powers in relation to the removal of superior court judges, a matter with far-reaching implications for judicial independence and constitutional governance in Ghana.
Source: CNR
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