The Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice has formally filed a motion before the Human Rights Division of the High Court in Accra seeking an order to strike out the suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo’s pending application for judicial review, citing fundamental procedural flaws and issues of jurisdiction.
In a sworn affidavit submitted by State Attorney Reginald Nii Odoi, acting on behalf of the Attorney-General and six other respondents/applicants, urged the High Court to dismiss the originating motion for judicial review filed by the embattled Chief Justice.
The affidavit, submitted under the authority of the Attorney-General, outlined a detailed legal argument that the judicial review application is both procedurally defective and jurisdictionally inappropriate.
According to the affidavit, the primary grounds for the strike-out application include a “grave misstatement of capacity” by the applicant as well as the “non-inclusion of mandatory and essential parties” to the legal process.
The State Attorney argued that these omissions are not minor oversights but instead strike at the very root of the motion’s validity.
“I am advised, and I verily believe the same to be true, that misstatement of capacity or non-inclusion of mandatory and essential parties to a motion go to capacity and to jurisdiction and, thus, render the originating process a nullity.”
State Attorney Reginald Nii Odoi
Ongoing and Adjudicated Cases
In further support of the application, the Attorney-General’s Office pointed to a series of ongoing and previously adjudicated cases at the Supreme Court which they claim substantially mirror the issues raised in the current judicial review motion.
Specifically, the affidavit referenced five high-profile constitutional and human rights-related cases currently before the apex court or already resolved by it:
These include Her Ladyship, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo v The Attorney-General & 5 Others (Suit No. J8/113/2025) and Centre for Citizenship Constitutional Electoral Systems LBG (CenCes) v The Attorney-General & 2 Others (Suit No. J1/20/2025).
The others include Vincent Ekow Assafuah v The Attorney-General (Suit No. J1/18/2025). Ebenezer Osei-Owusu v The Attorney-General (Suit No. J1/19/2025), and Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey v Attorney-General (Suit No. J8/109/2025).
The State Attorney attached certified processes and rulings in these cases, marked as Exhibits AG1 through AG5, arguing that the subject matter of the applicant’s judicial review is either already determined or currently under deliberation at the Supreme Court.
As such, the affidavit contends, the High Court lacks jurisdiction to reopen or consider matters that constitutionally fall within the exclusive purview of the Supreme Court.
“It is a cardinal principle of our constitutional order that inferior courts must not assume jurisdiction over matters pending before, or already decided by, the Supreme Court.
“Accordingly, this honourable Court lacks the jurisdiction to consider or determine matters which have been previously decided by the Supreme Court, or are properly pending before it for determination.”
State Attorney Reginald Nii Odoi
Respect for the Supreme Court
The Attorney-General’s legal team, therefore, urged the Human Rights Division to decline any invitation to wade into questions already addressed or awaiting resolution by the nation’s highest judicial body.
They further asked the Court to consider the broader implications of allowing what they termed a duplicative and defective process to proceed.
“In the interest of judicial economy, the avoidance of conflicting decisions, and the protection of the institutional integrity of the Court system, this is a proper case where this honourable Court ought to exercise its jurisdiction to strike out the Applicant/Respondent’s originating motion for judicial review.”
State Attorney Reginald Nii Odoi
The affidavit was sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths in Accra, in compliance with the rules governing affidavit evidence in civil litigation.
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