By Daniel Bampoe
The ongoing legal and political battle surrounding suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has deepened, as the Office of the Attorney-General (AG) has moved to strike out her second judicial review application aimed at halting one of the three petitions for her removal from office.
The application, filed by Justice Torkornoo on June 23, 2025, targets a petition lodged by a group calling itself the Shining Stars of Ghana.
Her legal team argues that the petition is fundamentally defective because the group is not a registered entity and its members’ identities are unknown. They contend that such a petition should not form the basis for removal proceedings against a sitting Chief Justice.
However, the AG’s office, represented by Deputy Attorney-General Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, insists that these arguments hold no legal weight.
In a sworn affidavit filed by State Attorney Reginald Nii Odoi, the AG asserts that under Ghanaian law, a group does not need to be incorporated or formally registered to be recognised as a legal entity capable of filing a petition.
This is the second time Justice Torkornoo has sought to use the High Court’s judicial review powers to stop the work of the committee set up under Article 146 of the Constitution to investigate her.
The first application sought to strike out all three petitions and suspend the Justice Pawmang-led committee’s sittings over alleged breaches of natural justice.
That earlier attempt was dismissed by the High Court, which ruled that the move amounted to an abuse of court process and that it lacked jurisdiction over Article 146 proceedings.
Complicating matters further, a separate constitutional interpretation case connected to the petitions is currently before the Supreme Court.
Justice Torkornoo’s legal team had sought an injunction from the apex court to halt the removal process until that case is concluded, but the application was also rejected, allowing the committee’s work to continue.
The AG’s latest response emphasises that issues raised in Justice Torkornoo’s new application directly concern the in-camera proceedings of the Article 146 committee, which the Constitution shields from open court scrutiny.
“The issues raised by the originating motion are not admissible in this Honourable Court,” the AG’s office argued, reiterating its position that the High Court has no jurisdiction over constitutionally protected removal proceedings.
Justice Gertrude Torkornoo was suspended in April by President John Mahama following the submission of multiple petitions calling for her removal over alleged misconduct and breaches of judicial ethics.
The case has triggered heated public debate, with legal analysts split over whether the ongoing process undermines judicial independence or upholds accountability at the highest levels of the judiciary.
With the Attorney-General pushing for the High Court to throw out her latest challenge, the suspended Chief Justice now faces an increasingly uphill legal fight to stop the proceedings that could end her tenure as head of the judiciary.
