The appointment of Justice Gertrude Torkornoo as Ghana’s Chief Justice has received official approval from Parliament.
The choice was made after her vetting on May 26, 2023, when the Appointments Committee of Parliament unanimously backed her nomination.
Justice Torkornoo was chosen by President Akufo-Addo in April 2023 to replace Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, who stepped down from the position on May 24.
The Minority Chief Whip asked Justice Torkornoo to outperform her predecessor, Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, as he left a legacy of injustices during the discussion of the committee’s findings, prior to to her confirmation by the house.
In order to wait for the entire ruling of the Supreme Court in the dual citizenship case involving James Gyakye Quayson, the former Member of Parliament for Assin North, the Minority first put off its unanimous support of the Chief Justice nomination.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, June 6, Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga stated that even though the minority caucus disagrees with the Supreme Court’s decision, it will still support the Chief Justice candidate.
“Thankfully, the reasoning in the James Gyakye Quayson case has been delivered by the Supreme Court earlier than 7th June. This has afforded us the opportunity to review the reasoning. The nominee for the post of Chief Justice (Justice Gertrude Araba Essaba Torkornoo) told the whole world that she is a textualist in her preferred approach to interpreting the Constitution of Ghana 1992.”
Mahama Ayariga
Profile Of Justice Torkornoo
Born on September 11, 1962, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo (Mrs.) joined the judicial branch of government in 2004 as one of the first judges of the High Court’s Commercial Division. Since 2005, she has participated in the primary reform initiatives and initiatives of the judiciary and the Judicial Service of Ghana (JSG).
As part of her leadership positions in ensuring the success of judicial reforms, Justice Sackey Torkornoo served as vice chair of the E-Justice Oversight and Implementation Committee (E-Justice OC) from the committee’s founding in 2019 and as head, since August 2021.
Justice Sackey Torkornoo has played a key role in the establishment and supervision of a number of judiciary reform initiatives that have involved the European Union, USAID, DFID, and partnerships with other African nations. Additionally, she has participated in the Law Reform Commission since 2016.
After taking over as chair of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana’s Editorial Committee in 2009, she oversaw the creation of an annual magazine for judges, making sure that topics important to the advancement of judicial competence and the fulfillment of the judiciary’s constitutional mandate were highlighted in this magazine.
After an international screening process, Justice Sackey Torkornoo was chosen in 2010 as the first recipient of a scholarship from the International Association of Women Judges. Her thesis on reforming Ghana’s Copyright Law relating to Folklore and Art, was published as the lead article in the University’s Annual Survey on Comparative and International Law. She pursued and excelled in an LLM in Intellectual Property, International Law, and Internet Law at Golden Gate University, San Francisco.
Under the auspices of the Ministry for Gender, Child and Social Protection, she received the Women of Excellence Award in Judicial Integrity in 2015. She also received the Ghana Institute of Construction’s Fellow designation in 2016.
Justice Sackey Torkornoo has earned a reputation for distinction in administrative leadership, ongoing study, teaching, writing, and the judicial ethics of competence, diligence, and integrity, while maintaining the highest standards for her courtroom work and judgment writing. She has worked closely with four Chief Justices, including Chief Justice Anin Yeboah, Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, and Chief Justice George Kingsley Acquah.
In October 2012, she was elevated to the Court of Appeals, and in December 2019, to the Supreme Court.
Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo has four daughters and three grandkids; she is married to Mr. Francis Torkornoo, a pharmacist.
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