Legal educationist and founder of MountCrest University College, Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has urged that Justice Gertrude Torkornoo be formally retired from the Supreme Court following her removal as Chief Justice.
Speaking at the 8th Congregation of MountCrest University College on Saturday, September 20, Mr. Ansa-Asare said such a step would be both fair and necessary.
“My advice is that the former Chief Justice be formally retired as a justice of the Supreme Court so that she can take a hard-earned entitlement,” he stated.
He further argued that the handling of the matter overlooked important legal considerations.
“She was invited to answer petitions for her removal as Chief Justice, not as justice of the Supreme Court, and in that I think that we administered common law rules oblivious of equitable principles,” he explained.
“Our law concerns not only on common law rules but also on equitable principles,” Ansa-Asare added.
In a related development, legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has clarified the legal position regarding Justice Torkornoo’s removal. According to him, once a Chief Justice is ousted, they automatically lose their seat on the Supreme Court.
“There is no ambiguity based on established rulings that when a Chief Justice loses her position, she ceases to become a Justice of the Supreme Court,” Kpebu told Key Points on TV3, also on September 20.
His comments come as Justice Torkornoo seeks judicial review at the High Court, challenging what she describes as an unconstitutional decision by President John Dramani Mahama to remove her from the Supreme Court.
In her petition, she insists that the process used was flawed, stressing that the petition against her concerned her role as Chief Justice alone.
Despite this, she argued, President Mahama’s decision extended to her position as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
She contends that the Constitution provides distinct procedures for removing a Chief Justice and for removing a Justice of the Superior Courts. In her view, the committee that investigated her lacked the authority to recommend her dismissal from the Supreme Court.
