Suspended Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, has sparked significant legal and political debate after taking former President John Dramani Mahama to the Supreme Court over the legitimacy of her recent suspension.
Filed on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the writ — submitted through her lawyer, former Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame — seeks to overturn the presidential decision and declare it unconstitutional.
At the heart of the legal challenge is Justice Torkornoo’s claim that President Mahama’s establishment of a prima facie case against her was “arbitrary, capricious, in violation of the right of the Plaintiff to a fair trial and therefore unconstitutional, void and of no effect.”
She is also demanding a public hearing of the petitions filed against her and is asserting her constitutional right to waive an in-camera hearing.
Additionally, she is challenging the composition of the committee set up to investigate the matter, arguing that two of its members — Justices Gabriel Scott Pwamang and Samuel Adibu-Asiedu — are unfit to participate due to conflicts of interest.
Reacting to the development, the Director of Legal Affairs for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Edudzi Tamakloe, described the suspended CJ’s decision to pursue the matter legally as “quite refreshing.”
“This application by Her Ladyship herself to restrain the committee from performing its constitutional task comes to me as quite an interesting one, giving the reliefs, and also looking at the injunction application,” Tamakloe said on Eyewitness News.
“I’m happy that the suspended Chief Justice is going to have the benefit of how the justice system works. Just like any one of us, her leadership may need the benefits of the very justice she, together with others, over the years, delivered to people.”
He added, “It is my hope and belief that she will be given all the opportunities required under our constitution as a citizen of this country. I think it’s quite refreshing.”
