The Majority caucus in Parliament has justified the actions of the Chief Justice and kicked against the minority’s claims of wrongdoing, stating that the Chief Justice committed no illegality when she wrote a letter to the President recommending that the number of Justices on the Supreme Court bench should be increased to enable the court to handle the numerous cases pending before it.
This follows a recent call by the opposition National Democratic Congress for the immediate reversal of the proposal by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo suggesting appointing some five Justices to the Supreme Court.
The Minority had argued that the Chief Justice does not have the mandate to recommend judges to the president for appointment to the apex court.
In a letter to the President, the Chief Justice proposed the appointment of Justices Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, Cyra Pamela Koranteng, Eric Kyei Baffour, Edward Amoako Asante and Angelina Mensah Homiah, all justices on the bench of the Court of Appeal, onto the Supreme Court bench.
Addressing journalists in Parliament, Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo Markin said that the Chief Justice did not act illegally and unconstitutionally, as asserted by critics, but rather the move is to help expedite justice delivery at the Apex Court.
Afenyo-Markin also maintained that political cases being handled at the Supreme Court might not be up to 2%; therefore, the argument on the untimely appointment of new judges to the Apex Court a few months before the transition of government is not well grounded.
The Effutu MP added that the comparison of the number of justices at the Supreme Court of Ghana to that of other jurisdictions like that of the United States of America is unnecessary.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the National President of the Ghana Bar Association, Yaw Acheampong Boafo, agree with the proposal by the Chief Justice.
For the Attorney-General, the proposal should be considered based on the growing backlog of cases, from 414 in the 2021/2022 legal year to 595 in the 2022/2023 legal year.
The GBA, on the other hand, agreed with the proposal by the Chief Justice in principle but added that such a proposal should only be considered after due consultation with other relevant bodies such as Parliament and the Council of State.
