Former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has criticised former Chief Justice (CJ) Gertrude Torkornoo’s latest legal action challenging her removal from office, stating that the position of CJ is not a personal entitlement or a traditional stool one can claim as an infinite right.
Speaking in reaction to the latest legal action seeking to halt the vetting and appointment of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie as her successor, Mr Ansa-Asare said Torkornoo’s conduct shows “emotional imbalance and immaturity.”
He explained that the former CJ’s challenge holds no legal weight under Ghana’s Constitution.
“She must realise that the seat of the Chief Justice is not a fixed traditional stool that the occupant can claim as a right,” Mr. Ansa-Asare said.
“Once the Pwamang Committee has submitted its report and the president has accepted the report and the recommendations contained in it, they cease to be primary findings; they now become the decision of the president, and the decision of the president was taken in accordance with the constitution.”
He explained that Article 146 (1–11) of the 1992 Constitution gives no individual the right to question the President’s acceptance of the recommendations of a committee investigating a judge’s removal.
“A former Chief Justice must understand that she is bound by the Constitution. If she does not appreciate the CJ removal process, if she cannot respect it, then she’s only demonstrating that when she was appointed, she was immature.
“..She must know that, in law, she cannot resurrect the case. The president has acted within the confines of the Constitution,” he stated.
Mr Ansa-Asare further argued that Madam Torkornoo’s attempt to stop the President from nominating a new Chief Justice amounts to obstructing a constitutional duty.
“The nomination of the CJ is not a presidential privilege, it’s a constitutional duty that must be performed. ..Therefore, her latest action is flawed, and it will not go anywhere,” he said.
The former CJ’s application at the High Court seeks to quash all proceedings of the Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang Committee established under Article 146 to consider petitions for her removal.
The former CJ is also asking the court to set aside all proceedings conducted by the Committee tasked with investigating petitions for her removal. She is also requesting that the Presidential Warrant that removed her from office be declared unlawful, null, void, and of no effect.
The development comes as the Appointments Committee of Parliament prepares to vet Justice Baffoe-Bonnie.
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