Torkornoo files for judicial review to declare removal proceedings void

Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo says she has instructed her lawyers to file an application for judicial review at the High Court, seeking to declare the ongoing proceedings for her removal from office as unlawful and void.

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.

Justice Torkornoo criticised what she described as a secretive and flawed process taking place behind closed doors, saying it violates the constitutional instrument that governs such proceedings.

“The clear danger is that through this flagrant violation of C.I. 47, and the darkness of the current proceedings being held in camera behind the walls of Adu Lodge, my lawyers and I can come to the end of proceedings; the evidence will show that every one of those allegations in the petitions that were given to me on 27th March 2025 is unfounded and untrue,” she said.

The suspended Chief Justice expressed particular concern that the committee might rely on undisclosed materials in its final report, despite the fact that she has not been given access to them.

“Yet, the committee can dig up some allegation from whatever document they claim to have received from the President, which they have not shown to me, and purport to enter a recommendation for my removal on that basis,” she added.

She warned that such an approach undermines the rule of law in Ghana and sets a dangerous precedent.

“Allow me to say that this is totally unknown in the rule of law in this country. If it were lawful, I would have no reason to alert the nation of the dangers they represent. It is the violations of law that have forced me to bring these matters out in the light of day,” she said.