Can a suspended Chief Justice challenge her removal in court? The Attorney-General says no—and is fighting to shut down the legal battle before it even begins.

• AG seeks to block Chief Justice’s case over legal flaws

• Case accused of factual errors and missing parties

• Argues only Supreme Court can rule on this

• Warns against undermining Supreme Court’s authority

• Aims to prevent re-litigation of settled matters

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The Attorney-General has asked the High Court’s Human Rights Division to dismiss suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s request for a judicial review.

The Attorney-General’s office argues that the filing has serious legal flaws.

Last week, the suspended Chief Justice directed her legal team to request a judicial review. She wants the court to rule that the removal process against her is invalid and should be canceled.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, June 25, Justice Torkornoo described the process currently being undertaken by the committee set up under Article 146 of the Constitution as “a total absence of compliance with all known rules of fair hearing.”

“It is this total absence of compliance with all known rules of fair hearing that has caused my lawyers to file applications for judicial review in the High Court to declare all the proceedings void,” she stated.

In a sworn affidavit, State Attorney Reginald Nii Odoi argues that the application has a serious error—it misrepresents the Chief Justice’s legal standing and leaves out required parties. Because of this, the A-G’s office claims the case is invalid.

The Attorney General’s affidavit states that the issues raised have either already been decided by the Supreme Court or are still being reviewed there.

The AG argues that the Human Rights Court doesn’t have the authority to hear this case. Allowing it to proceed, they say, would overstep judicial boundaries and ignore past Supreme Court rulings.

The motion aims to stop what the AG calls a duplicate legal challenge on issues already before the highest court.

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