April 30, 2025
Ridge, Accra; The President of the Republic, H.E. John D. Mahama has nominated 7 Justices of the Court of Appeal for consideration and appointment to the Supreme Court of Ghana. The nominees are:
•Justice Sir Dennis Dominic Adjei
•Justice Gbiel Simon Suurbaareh
•Justice Senyo Dzamefe
•Justice Kweku Tawiah Ackaah-Boafo
•Justice Philip Bright Mensah
•Justice Janapare Bartels-Kodwo
•Justice Hafisata Amaleboba
Their nominations were contained in a letter signed by the Executive Secretary to the President, Dr. Callistus Mahama and addressed to the Honourable Acting Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe Bonnie as Chairperson of the Judicial Council.
The nominations is in fidelity with Article 144 ( 2 ) of the Constitution ( supra ) which provides that “ The other Supreme Court Justices shall be appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Judicial Council, in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of Parliament”.
The nominated Justices are some of the most experienced on the Court of Appeal bench. Justices Sir Dennis Dominic Adjei for instance and Senyo Dzamefe were was appointed to the appellate court in July 2010, while Justice Suurbaareh was elevated to the Court of Appeal bench in 2015.
The current nominations appear to be unique and interesting, with all the nominees drawn from the Court of Appeal bench, a complete departure from recent nominations and appointments under President Akufo Addo, which had persons from private legal practice and academia.
Should the Judicial Council and Parliament approve all the nominees for appointment, that would take the number of Supreme Court Justices to 21 from the current 14 including the suspended Chief Justice, which would be an unprecedented number under the 4th Republic.
It is instructive to state that the Constitution of Ghana unlike US Constitution does not put a ceiling on the number of justices who may be appointed to the Supreme Court bench. This is because per Article 128(1) of the 1992 Constitution, the composition of the Supreme Court is made of the Chief Justice and not less than nine other justices.
The nominations no doubt will resurrect the public discourse on what should be the appropriate number of justices at the Supreme Court and how the presidential discretion under Article 144 ( 2 ) ought to be exercised, especially with attendant constraints on the public purse and the potential for abuse.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for more updates.
