Read full statement by suspended Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo

I swore to a supplementary affidavit alerting the Supreme Courtroom of human rights violations I had already began encountering on the listening to. Nevertheless, the members of the Supreme Courtroom that heard the applying refused my software for an open listening to, and the supplementary affidavit informing the courtroom of violations of human rights was additionally struck out of information on the request of the Lawyer-Basic. I’ve determined to make this Assertion right now as a result of the violations haven’t stopped, however have escalated past something I may have imagined as attainable in justice supply.

These violations embrace:

1. the Committee’s refusal, in breach of the principles of pure justice, to recognise my counsel on the primary day of proceedings just because I used to be not personally current, and continuing to repair listening to dates and make preparations for the listening to with out involving my counsel, though he was bodily current;
2. the committee’s failure to point the precise allegations in respect of which a prima case has been established in addition to the explanations for identical, to allow me to find out my authorized rights or adequately put together a defence to the costs towards me;
3. the committee’s resolution to allow two of the petitioners (Mr. Daniel Ofori and Shining Stars) to not testify to allow me cross-examine them on their petitions;
4. a denial of alternative to be within the listening to room with my husband or an in depth member of the family;
5. an intensive search on my physique and purses in violation of protocols and courtesies prolonged to the Chief Justice in honour of the nation, domestically and internationally;
6. the conduct of the hearings in a cordoned excessive safety zone on Citadel Drive, Osu, when all Article 146 proceedings since 1993, had been held in a judicial facility on the Judicial Service, Accra. It’s clear that the selection of venue, towards the background of the secrecy of proceedings, was meant to intimidate me and to stop any citizen of Ghana from understanding how the proceedings are being carried out.

I have to make the disclosure at this level that the Adu Lodge facility that I’m being tried in featured very prominently within the planning of the homicide of Judges on June thirtieth 1981, and this may be examine within the Particular Investigative Report on that horrible occasion in our nationwide historical past. It is going to be recalled that Main Sam Acquah, the army officer who was killed with the three Excessive Courtroom Judges, had been the Director of Human Assets of GIHOC. He was my uncle and my guardian once I entered the College of Ghana in September 1980.  I used to be additionally residing with him on the time he was kidnapped and murdered. Was Adu Lodge chosen for this inquiry to make me really feel insecure? I feel so. And I proceed to carry the view that there isn’t a purpose to carry a quasi judicial listening to behind the excessive partitions of Adu Lodge.

Breach of Guidelines of Disclosure

Usually, at this text 146 listening to, no guidelines offered by legislation that regulate hearings and trials on this nation are being adopted.

As we’ll all know, when a citizen is summoned to seem earlier than a courtroom, whether or not a district courtroom, circuit courtroom, excessive courtroom, courtroom of enchantment or supreme courtroom, or earlier than any administrative or disciplinary committee within the workplace, it’s the responsibility of the courtroom or committee to provide  the citizen copies of the grievance that they’re presiding over. No citizen on this nation might be summoned with out being given a Writ of Summons, a Petition or Grievance. It is usually the responsibility of each courtroom, committee or tribunal to provide anybody summoned earlier than them copies of all paperwork which have been filed with them, earlier than the listening to and in the midst of the listening to. The article 146 Committee that’s listening to the petitions in Adu Lodge has refused to provide me copies of the petitions that His Excellency the President arrange the Committee to inquire into and the responses I gave, and the prima facie willpower that His Excellency the President is meant to have made. They declare that they know that the President despatched me copies of the Petitions on twenty seventh March 2025 and so, they don’t want to indicate me their copies. Additionally they declare to have copies of the Responses that I gave to the President, however they won’t present the events with copies of them. Additionally they declare that the Petitioners also needs to have their very own copies of no matter they despatched to the President.  So the Committee is not going to put together a listening to bundle or direct their Registrar to serve me with paperwork that the President has referred to them to inquire into. For the above causes, thus far, the Committee has refused and/or didn’t serve on me the Petitions that kind the premise of the listening to and any particular costs towards me.

No report of Petition or Petitioners instances

Girls and gents, it is not uncommon authorized information that in a committee/fee of inquiry arrange pursuant to a petition, the petition is the premise for graduation of listening to by the committee/fee. The petition itself have to be admitted into proof and subjected to cross-examination, particularly the place it alleges wrongdoing towards one other particular person. On this case, the committee has not solely permitted that two of the petitioners, Mr Daniel Ofori and a gaggle calling itself “Shining Stars”, are to not testify and make sure on oath the petitions they’ve introduced towards me, however in addition they wouldn’t name anybody to testify on their behalf. In order we converse, there may be nothing earlier than the Committee confirming the petitions introduced by these two petitioners. There may be additionally no proof given by them on oath to the Committee.

Conduct of proceedings in a typical adversarial litigation method opposite to procedures of a Committee or Fee of Inquiry

It is very important state that though there isn’t a constitutional instrument handed to manage the proceedings of an Article 146 committee, we now have on the statute books of Ghana, a constitutional instrument regulating the work of all commissions or committees of inquiry. That is the Commissions of Inquiry (Follow and Process) Guidelines, 2010 (C. I. 65). And in article 146 (7), if a Committee is ready up for the removing of a Chief Justice, the Committee is meant to ‘inquire’ into the petition, the reply and the prima facie case.

Despite this, on fifteenth Might, the Committee indicated that it’s going to conduct the listening to NOT AS AN INQUIRY – as directed by article 146 (7), however as a daily LITIGATION. The Committee rejected using C. I. 65, which is created for the conduct of an inquiry, and acknowledged that they are going to fairly use the Excessive Courtroom (Civil Process) Guidelines 2004 CI 47.

The Committee determined that every Petitioner is to conduct his case as they deem match. With out presenting a petition to the Committee, or testifying on oath, the Petitioners can be allowed to subject subpoenas to public officers as witnesses to verify what they themselves had not testified to.

Girls and gents, solely a courtroom duly created by legislation or a Fee of Inquiry created by constitutional instrument and vested with the powers of a Excessive Courtroom to compel the attendance of witnesses, can subpoena witnesses. The article 146 committee arrange towards me has not been given statutory standing by the passage of a constitutional instrument. Neither has the Structure vested it with the powers of a Excessive Courtroom nor empowered it to subject subpoenas, as a result of they refuse to convey themselves throughout the regulation of article 295 of the Structure. But, the Committee has been receiving purposes for subpoenas from the petitioners and permitting the purposes to function precise subpoenas.

As a result of the proceedings are being carried out as if it’s a regular litigation between the petitioners and my humble self, i.e. Daniel Ofori vrs. Gertrude Torkornoo CJ, or Shinning Stars vrs. Gertrude Torkornoo CJ or Ayamga Akolgo vrs. Gertrude Torkornoo CJ, opposite to the process which governs commissions of inquiry, the petitioners have their respective counsel who direct what proof the petitioner needs to indicate the Committee. That is additionally in violation of identified guidelines relating to proceedings of a committee of inquiry, regulated by C. I. 65, underneath which a Committee of Inquiry must have its personal counsel to make sure that as soon as the Committee begins proceedings, the petitioner turns into not more than a witness for the committee to show the allegations that led to the establishing of the Committee of inquiry. They must testify on oath for the committee and be cross-examined by the Respondent, who’s the topic of the proceedings.

On this case, the general public officers served with purposes for subpoenas to current sure paperwork, swear oaths and current the paperwork to the Committee as displays. These witnesses themselves don’t have the petition, they don’t both know the allegations of the petitioner or might have heard of them from social media, and can’t converse to the allegations.After they end submitting their paperwork, my legal professionals are known as on to cross study the witnesses.

Since twenty third Might 2025, this unusual course of has been adopted and witness after witness has been known as. Like Nebucchadnezzar’s state of affairs through which he demanded that the magicians in his courtroom ought to inform him his dream and likewise interpret it, my legal professionals are left to guess which allegations within the Petitions I used to be given on twenty seventh March 2025 are the subject material of the testimonies that the witnesses have referred to. What’s necessary to state is that the Excessive Courtroom Guidelines, CI 47, by no means conceived that any listening to will likely be accomplished with out the claims, defences, and points to be tried being rigorously laid out earlier than the events and accepted by each events. On this case, there aren’t any agreed claims, no agreed defences, and no agreed points that the inquiry is meant to determine.

Girls and gents, it’s this whole absence of compliance with all identified guidelines of honest listening to that has triggered my legal professionals to file purposes for judicial evaluate within the Excessive Courtroom to declare all of the proceedings void. The clear hazard is that in gentle of flagrant violation of CI 47, the very guidelines the Committee  claims to be utilizing, and the darkness of the present proceedings being held in digicam, my legal professionals and I can come to the tip of proceedings; the proof will present that each allegation within the Petitions that got to me by the President on twenty seventh March 2025 is unfounded and unfaithful. But, the article 146 committee can dig up some allegation from no matter doc they declare to have acquired from the President which they haven’t proven to me, and purport to enter a advice for my removing on that foundation. Enable me to say to the nation that what I’m reporting on is a state of affairs that’s completely unknown to the rule of legislation on this nation. If it was lawful, I might don’t have any purpose to alert the nation of the risks they symbolize. It’s the clear and blatant violations of legislation which have pressured me to convey these issues out within the gentle of day.

Impact of the present proceedings

The ultimate and fourth purpose for this Assertion is  that I’ve heard on a number of events, from family members, individuals who care, individuals who might not know me past my public duties, and lots of who assume that since it’s clear that the present proceedings appear to be rigorously staged to end in my removing as Chief Justice,  it could be finest if I simply retired or resigned, fairly than topic myself to an ailing motivated course of. I’ve additionally acquired threats and veiled threats to the impact that if I fail to resign or voluntarily retire, I will likely be made to undergo some hurt or the opposite.

I’ve additionally heard a number of commentaries within the media about how this course of was born out of a acknowledged political agenda to take away me and management the Judiciary, and that, it’s a political effort that may solely end result within the charade of a listening to that’s performed out. I thank all those that have engaged on this dialog out of concern for my security and well-being.

Let me guarantee everyone that I don’t search to cling to a title or place. Nevertheless, as a lawyer of 38 years standing, a Decide of 21 years standing, and Chief Justice of Ghana who has served within the rule of legislation all of my working life, I think about it my onerous responsibility and obligation to talk up regarding the administration of justice on this nation. The state of affairs I’ve been confronted with has proven me a mannequin of injustice that I might by no means have thought attainable if I had not been uncovered to it. For this reason regardless of nice private discomfort, I’ve determined to marshal each effort, in legislation and management, to reply to this case.

Moreover, resigning or retiring whereas article 146 proceedings are being carried out to take away a Decide shouldn’t be an choice any Decide or public official is even allowed to have. There’s a determined case on the topic by the Supreme Courtroom. The go well with quantity is J6/02/2019.

Once more, nobody has the authority to stroll away from proceedings began by the State. Judgment might be entered towards you since you didn’t defend your self. And a Decide who resigns or retires would nonetheless lose all entitlements as a result of they didn’t defend the claims and resigned or retired whereas the proceedings have been happening. Due to this fact, if false claims are made towards a Decide or any Commissioner or different public workplace holder topic to article 146 proceedings, simply to realize a political agenda, the answer can’t be to resign or voluntarily retire out of frustration, strain or worry. One would solely discover themselves being subjected to 2 cruelties – a judgment based mostly on false claims, and lack of every part that one has labored for. It could be that efforts are being made to make me really feel annoyed and resign in order that the architects of the scheme can return into the media to say that the wild and unfounded allegations within the petitions weren’t defended as a result of they have been true or that I had no credible defence to them.

As Chief Justice of a nation, who has been given the onerous responsibility and obligation to steer administration of justice, I shouldn’t flip tail and run once I know the implications of not defending false and unwarranted costs.  If I resign underneath these circumstances, I will likely be saying that this flawed, unknown and opaque course of is suitable. It’s not.

The necessity to defend Ghana’s Establishments

Girls and Gents, let me say, respectfully, that the present weird proceedings I’ve dropped at your consideration presents a twist to our nation’s democratic journey that we ignore solely at nice price. My humble view is that Ghana has come too far within the 33 years of the 4th Republic to not be alerted concerning the unconstitutionalities round these article 146 proceedings that appear designed to not have an effect on simply me personally as Chief Justice, however all Judges and public officers topic to article 146, whether it is efficiently carried out with out being questioned.

Behind me is each decide within the nation. Behind me is each commissioner or head of an impartial constitutional physique within the nation. If this mannequin of removing might be tried on the Chief Justice, it may be repeated with everybody. I’m not countering these processes for myself, however on account of the management burden I carry. If the nation is keen to simply accept these developments, it have to be understood that I sounded the warning and the nation took the choice to be passive about it. I can not share the burden of these concerned in designing and implementing this enterprise of pretending to make use of article 146 procedures to take away a Chief Justice via unknown and illegal means, by conserving quiet concerning the violations of legislation, guidelines and due course of. Neither can I make their burden lighter by resigning or retiring, as a substitute of proving that not even one in every of these wild claims in a group of petitions is even remotely true or meets the usual required for eradicating any Decide.

The Three Petitions

The petitions that are getting used to ‘inquire’ into why I must be faraway from workplace have been within the public area for some months now. They’re truly accessible on the web, so I’m not addressing something that isn’t identified within the public area. Many damaging issues have been stated about me via public commentary on the petitions, though the petitions have been responded to, seven days after I acquired them. And so anybody who cared to acknowledge my facet of the story, would don’t have any have to preserve repeating what’s within the Petitions, with out discussing the solutions. Once I offered responses to the petitions, I defined with proof, that every allegation was both a lie, a fallacious opinion about how work is carried out within the Judicial Service, a fallacious opinion on the work of Judges, or a fallacious opinion on the duties of a Chief Justice.

MR DANIEL OFORI’S PETITION

Mr Daniel Ofori’s petition is the petition with essentially the most claims. Solely two out of the a number of allegations he makes contain Mr Daniel Ofori personally, as a courtroom consumer. In a kind of two allegations, Mr Daniel Ofori is urging that I must be eliminated as Chief Justice as a result of I transferred a case through which he is a celebration, from one Decide within the excessive courtroom to a different. What Mr. Ofori didn’t appear to know, which I acknowledged in my reply to that allegation, is that the Decide his case was transferred from, had a household disaster and needed to go away Ghana immediately for an prolonged interval. That is the one purpose why instances she was dealing with, together with Mr Daniel Ofori’s case, have been distributed to different Judges to deal with. Within the second allegation, he accuses me of transferring a case associated to the primary one, to the brand new Decide who took over his case, after a petition had been despatched to me to have the 2 instances heard collectively. Once more, any lawyer or Registrar may have knowledgeable him, that it’s a coverage written into the principles of courtroom, to have instances between the identical events and involving the identical subject, to be heard by one Decide. So there isn’t a foundation or reality to the allegations that I transferred his instances to a brand new Decide as a result of I had an curiosity in his instances.

Certainly, within the yr 2020, I wrote a dissenting opinion in one in every of Mr Ofori’s instances within the Supreme Courtroom. He gained that software as a result of my dissenting opinion was the minority opinion of three Judges. The opposite 4 Judges supported his software. After that, his legal professionals utilized that I shouldn’t sit on his instances once more, as a result of I had presided over a special case involving him within the excessive courtroom, which he misplaced. Since then, I’ve not sat on any matter involving him. What can be disturbing concerning the present article 146 proceedings is the truth that the instances within the excessive courtroom that Mr Ofori complains about emanate from a judgment of the Supreme Courtroom written by Justice Pwamang in Daniel Ofori’s favour. How can Justice Pwamang who gave judgment in favour of Daniel Ofori as a part of a panel of the Supreme Courtroom, and whose opinion I dissented with, making me a goal of Mr Ofori’s anger, preside over processes to take away me as Chief Justice ostensibly for complaints Mr Ofori has? 

I’ve already protested that there’s a battle of curiosity for Justice Pwamang to chair the Committee making an attempt me on Daniel Ofori’s petitions. What Mr Ofori’s allegations appear to counsel is that, a courtroom consumer can assault the Chief Justice and ask for the Chief Justice’s removing, if the Chief Justice doesn’t agree along with his case whereas sitting as a Decide, or if his most popular Decide(s) are unable to listen to his or her instances. And now the Decide who supported his case, will get to preside over the removing course of.

Other than these two allegations, Mr Ofori has no private curiosity in all the opposite allegations he makes, and ought to not be allowed to conduct a litigation towards me within the disguise of an article 146 continuing. In two allegations, he complains that I misappropriated public funds to purchase a ticket for my husband and daughter to journey with me. In reply to this, I handed over my letter of appointment to show that in my situations of appointment, Ghana graciously gave me two holidays in a yr as Chief Justice. Within the Judicial Service Journey Coverage since 2010, the Chief Justice can by no means journey alone for safety causes, and the Chief Justice is at all times allowed to journey with the partner or one other particular person of their selection.

So travelling on my formally given holidays with my husband on one event and my daughter for the second trip is a part of the official situations of my appointment as Chief Justice. I used to be additionally not liable for shopping for the tickets in query, such that I might be stated to have ‘misappropriated’ the worth of the tickets. Certainly, if the Judicial Service was not allowed to purchase the tickets for my trip, the treatment was for the Auditor Basic to surcharge me to refund the cash. Anybody can take a look at the 2023 accounts of Judicial Service to know that there isn’t a surcharge towards me or anybody for the tickets bought for my holidays. Mr Ofori appears to be alleging that I ought to have travelled with my police escort alone on trip, and never a member of the family. For this reason he needs me faraway from workplace, and I’m being tried at Adu Lodge. Girls and gents, the query to be requested is, why would anybody demand that I’m going on a trip given to me as Chief Justice with my safety escort alone, as a substitute of going with my husband, or with my daughter? And the way can this be a purpose for subjecting a Chief Justice to a committee of inquiry?

Mr Ofori additionally complains that my relations shouldn’t have been given per diem once they travelled with me, and I’ve ‘misappropriated’ the per diem they got. However anybody studying the Judicial Service journey coverage will discover that it gives that when the Chief Justice travels with anybody, whether or not police escort, one other Decide, a secretary or partner, that particular person is given per diem. And the speed of per diem shouldn’t be set or administered by the Chief Justice. It’s by rules and administered by the Finance Directorate and Judicial Secretary, not the Chief Justice.

Mr Ofori’s petition features a lie that that I refused to retire accountable imprest of US$14,000 that I used to be given once I travelled. However information can be found to indicate that I spent US$4,400 out of the $14,000 accountable imprest that the finance directorate gave me to journey with. I handed over the remaining US$9,600 to the Judicial Secretary, with information on how the US$4,400 was spent, two days after I returned to Ghana. With no settling of any points for the listening to, I’m being tried for these allegations that I’ve already offered information on.

In an arm of presidency the place there are virtually eight thousand workers, Mr Daniel Ofori’s petition accommodates allegations that I transferred one workers member of Judicial Service to work on a special schedule, and that is why I must be eliminated as Chief Justice. He additionally alleges that I’ve refused to reinstate two members of workers whose appointments have been terminated round 2015, once I was no the place close to being Chief Justice, and whose points are nonetheless in courtroom. He additionally alleges that I must be eliminated for terminating the appointment of two workers members who went via disciplinary procedures that have been initiated by stories towards them earlier than I turned Chief Justice, resulting in termination of their appointment. Although it isn’t clear to me why Mr Ofori ought to demand that the Chief Justice must be eliminated for transferring a member of workers, or being the ultimate authority to signal any termination letter, I handed over to His Excellency the President, information protecting each administrative step on these issues, supported by the due course of administered by the appropriate officers. And but, I’m being tried with out the problem of a prima facie willpower.

One other allegation of Mr Daniel Ofori is that I appointed a Decide as a Judicial Secretary, and it made her inefficient. The information present that the previous Judicial Secretary was appointed as Judicial Secretary in 2018. She later turned a Decide in 2019. I used to be nowhere close to being Chief Justice. I used to be appointed Chief Justice in June, 2023. Nevertheless, Mr Ofori says that due to these appointments made in 2018 and 2019, once I was not Chief Justice, I must be faraway from workplace.

He additionally alleges that I’ve appointed Judges as registrars and this has launched inefficiency into the administration of courts. Once more, the information present that the Judicial Council determined in Might 2023, earlier than I used to be appointed Chief Justice, that decrease courtroom judges must be appointed as registrars of the Supreme Courtroom. So what  I did was to implement the Judicial Council’s resolution. All these information have been made accessible earlier than the suspension warrant was issued, and but I’m being tried, and the Committee refuses to make these information that I gave to His Excellency the President accessible to the Petitioners. Mr Daniel Ofori additionally makes the allegation {that a} sure gentleman met a special panel to listen to his case within the Supreme Courtroom, apart from the panel he met 5 months earlier, so I must be eliminated as Chief Justice. He additionally claims that I refused to repair an software filed in Accra, in a case pending in Koforidua, for a panel sitting in Accra to listen to the Koforidua case, and so I must be eliminated as Chief Justice. In one other allegation, he complains that I supervised the Judicial Secretary to manage a choice of the Basic Authorized Council taken earlier than I turned Chief Justice, and so I must be faraway from workplace. Girls and gents, for all these allegations, for those who learn my responses which have been accessible on the web for a very long time, you will see that I offered information displaying when, why, and the way these selections have been taken.

There may be additionally the grievance that I advisable Judges to be appointed to the Supreme Courtroom, so I must be eliminated as Chief Justice. Girls and gents. Anybody who is aware of how appointments are made with suggestions from the Ghana Bar Affiliation, the Lawyer Basic and the Chief Justice, would know that this final grievance is unaware of an extended standing custom. It has been the settled apply for many years that within the advice of Justices for the Superior Courts, the Chief Justice, the Ghana Bar Affiliation, and the Lawyer Basic all have the privilege of constructing suggestions on who must be nominated. The advice might be taken or refused by the President. There are members of the Superior Courts of Judicature right now whose journey on to the Bench started with a advice by the Ghana Bar Affiliation earlier than the formal processes underneath the Structure can be initiated by the President. I encourage everybody to learn the judgment of the Supreme Courtroom within the case of Ghana Bar Affiliation and Others vrs Lawyer-Basic [2015-2016],2 SCGLR 872. 

How has it immediately change into unconstitutional, or fallacious conduct, or incompetence for the Chief Justice to suggest to the President to contemplate for nomination, judges who in her view fulfill the constitutional commonplace of excessive ethical integrity?  But, regardless of all of the proof offered, I’m being tried at Adu Lodge, with out seeing what paperwork the panel was given to inquire into, and with out my solutions being offered to the inquiry for examination in chief and cross examination. I’ve taken this stroll via Mr Ofori’s petition to indicate that the allegations don’t have any bearing on delicate nationwide points or public security or order, or my incapacity to carry out the capabilities of a Chief Justice. They don’t have any foundation in fact or legislation, and are nothing however an try to assemble a whole lot of complaints collectively, no matter whether or not they’re true or not, whether or not they’re justified or not, simply to have an excuse for this “inquiry”, that breaks all the principles of honest listening to.

Mr Ayamga Akolgo

There may be additionally a petition from a gentleman known as Ayamga Akolgo. His grievance is that on 14^th November 2024, after the Supreme Courtroom had given a ruling which went towards him, I, as presiding decide within the Supreme Courtroom, ordered his arrest, with none purpose. He connected an exhibit to his petition which was a media report of a gaggle known as The Legislation Platform. This media report says that after the Supreme Courtroom panel had dominated towards Mr. Akolgo, he began to shout on the courtroom, and that’s the reason he was taken out of the courtroom room. Basically subsequently, his personal exhibit contradicts his claims. Mr Akolgo additionally claims that when he utilized for a duplicate of the day’s proceedings which have been signed by all of the Judges that presided on his case, he didn’t see a report that he had been arrested, so I must be eliminated as Chief Justice. What can be vital about this petition is that Justice Pwamang sat with me as one of many Judges who heard Mr Akolgo’s case and was named as a witness that Mr Akolgo will name, making him ineligible to preside over the petition. However His Excellency the President has appointed him to chair and inquire into this petition, and he has accepted to take action.

Girls, and gents, Article 127(3) of the Structure indemnifies a decide towards any motion or go well with for any act or omission by him whereas exercising judicial energy. This provision was simply final week, cited as a purpose for declaring a petition towards a supreme courtroom nominee frivolous. And but, I’m in Adu Lodge defending myself on this petition.

 SHINNING STARS

The final petition is from a gaggle calling itself “Shinning Stars”. Searches have proven that no such group is registered in Ghana. But as a company physique, they’ve petitioned towards me, and I’m being tried. They declare that in the course of the listening to of the case of Afenyo Markin versus Lawyer Basic & the Speaker of Parliament, once I sat as a Decide, I failed to listen to the facet of the Speaker of Parliament earlier than the Supreme Courtroom made an order, and so I must be eliminated as Chief Justice. Once more, I can solely level to the truth that no Decide sits alone within the Supreme Courtroom, and the courtroom’s selections are the selections of all of the Judges who sit collectively.

Girls and gents. Each judicial resolution I took that’s complained about by Mr Ofori, Mr Akolgo, and the group calling itself Shinning Stars, was accomplished as a part of a panel of at the least 5 Judges that made up the Supreme Courtroom, and all Judges in a panel are indemnified by article 127 (3) of the 1992 Structure. How tenable, if I can respectfully ask, can or not it’s {that a} petition to take away the Chief Justice from workplace, might be entertained on these grounds? Each administrative resolution complained about is supported by my constitutional obligations, and statutory duties, and I confirmed, with displays, that they have been taken after due course of, earlier than His Excellency the President issued a warrant of suspension towards the Chief Justice with out giving causes.

Curiously, there have been some current options about guidelines being made to protected guard Judges from frivolous makes an attempt to take away them from workplace. It appears like an try and guarantee the Judiciary that after unconstitutional and unlawful means have been used to take away me, situations will likely be made safer for many who assist with it, or those that might really feel afraid by the present occurrences. Regardless of the attention-grabbing new discussions of guidelines for ‘eradicating Judges’, I’m satisfied that it’s only be a matter of time for the nation’s democracy to expertise the bitter harvest of what I’m reporting on.

And if this nation descends into the form of proceedings behind closed doorways, that break all the principles of adjudication or inquiry as we all know them, after all of the progress we now have made with the rule of legislation, that descent will lead us to a spot the place no Decide, Commissioner or Head of an impartial constitutional physique will likely be protected from compromise created by worry, intimidation, and threats, or a need to please. That is what our Structure has rigorously given provisions to guard the nation from. A brand new commonplace would have been set the place Judges adjust to what influential individuals need, or stand the chance of dropping every part – together with their profession, their pensions, and their reputations – via the smear campaigns that may accompany the method. Each Decide and each Commissioner whose independence of thoughts provides Ghanaians the assure of freedom and justice right now can not perform independently once more. Any petition will likely be sufficient to invoke the hazard of being eliminated by proceedings that aren’t supported by legislation, and which will likely be shrouded behind excessive safety partitions.

I want to remind the nation of this quote from German Pastor Martin Niemoller dated 1946. It reads like this:

“First they got here for the socialists, and I didn’t converse out—as a result of I used to be not a socialist.Then they got here for the commerce unionists, and I didn’t converse out—as a result of I used to be not a commerce unionist. Then they got here for the Jews, and I didn’t converse out—as a result of I used to be not a Jew. Then they got here for me—and there was nobody left to talk for me.”

I’m assured that in my journey as a lawyer, decide and now Chief Justice, there isn’t a one one that can take a look at me within the eye and accuse me of taking a bribe to resolve a case. That is the private treasure of integrity that I stay with.

So what if these present proceedings are being rigorously staged to end in my removing as Chief Justice – even when there isn’t a lawful justification? All I’ve acknowledged reveals that any such motion would have been accomplished on the premise of lies and violations of legislation and due course of.  As a profession Decide, who has served underneath 4 totally different Presidents, from Excessive Courtroom, Courtroom of Attraction and Supreme Courtroom, I may by no means have imagined such irregularities attainable if I had not personally encountered it. I’m additionally a mom, and a grandmother who should hope for higher than this for our nation, its rule of legislation and democracy. On my half, I selected to respect His Excellency the President’s warrant of suspension, though it was clear to me that it was not supported by the prima facie willpower required by the Structure and selections of the Supreme Courtroom. I’ve chosen to honor the method set in place to listen to the petitions. However I don’t select to cover from the nation that perversion of legislation, guidelines, and due course of, as everyone knows it, are driving the proceedings, and this renders the proceedings unconstitutional. I select to belief that such darkness is not going to completely engulf this nation. Might God bless our homeland Ghana, and make our nation nice and robust.

Thanks very a lot.