Justice,
Gertrude
Torkornoo
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Former
President
John
Dramani
Mahama
has
criticized
Chief
Justice
Gertrude
Torkornoo
for
the
recommendation
that
she
made
to
the
president
to
appoint
five
additional
justices
of
the
Supreme
Court.
The
flagbearer
of
the
National
Democratic
Congress
(NDC)
said
that
this
approach
by
the
Chief
Justice
is
rare
because
it
is
the
president
who
recommends
based
on
the
advice
of
the
judicial
council
and
then
forwards
the
names
to
Parliament
for
approval
or
otherwise.
Addressing
the
media
in
Accra
on
Sunday,
July
7
,
Mr
Mahama
said
“I
can’t
understand
why
the
Chief
Justice
will
be
the
one
recommending
which
judges
to
appoint.
The
constitution
is
clear
that
it
is
the
president
who
appoints
judges
with
the
advice
of
the
judicial
council
and
so
the
initiative
to
appoint
judges
must
come
from
the
president
and
be
submitted
to
the
judicial
council,
he
brings
it
back
with
advice
and
the
president
then
forwards
to
Parliament,
that
is
the
procedure.
“It
is
very
rare
that
this
time
the
recommendation
comes
from
the
Chief
Justice
to
the
president.
Even
capping
the
number
of
judges,
the
constitutional
review
committee
recommended
that
we
cap
Supreme
Court
judges
at
15,
so
the
issue
for
capping
the
Supreme
Court
judges
is
not
for
the
chief
justice
to
say.
We
will
resurrect
the
constitutional
review
process
when
I
become
president
and
when
we
do
that
we
will
put
it
to
the
Ghanaian
people
whether
we
should
retain
the
15,
whether
we
should
reduce
it,
or
whether
we
should
increase
it.
I
don’t
think
that
it
should
be
the
chief
justice
saying
that
we
should
increase
and
cap
at
15.”
The
recommendations
by
the
Chief
Justice
have
raised
concerns
among
some
lawyers
and
analysts
including
a
Private
legal
Practitioner
Martin
Kpebu.
Mr
Kpebu
said
that
the
concerns
are
not
about
the
competence
of
the
names
that
have
come
up.
He
says
the
concerns
are
about
the
timing
and
the
procedure
for
the
appointments.
For
the
president
to
appoint
Supreme
Court
justices
there
has
to
be
a
recommendation
from
the
Judicial
Council
to
that
effect,
Kpebu
said.
Without
a
recommendation
from
the
Judicial
Council,
the
president
cannot
proceed
with
the
process
of
appointing
new
justices
of
the
apex
court,
he
added.
Kpebu
said
on
the
Key
Points
on
TV3
on
Saturday,
July
6
that
“There
must
be
a
recommendation
from
the
Judicial
Council…If
the
president
has
not
received
advice
from
the
judicial
council
he
cannot
start.”
He
added
“But
that
the
nominees
are
not
bad,
it
is
the
timing
that
is
bad.
These
are
fine
justices
but
it
is
about
procedure
and
timing,
this
debate
is
not
about
competence
at
all.”
Meanwhile,
the
Attorney-General,
Godfred
Dame,
said
it
is
worthy
to
note
that
the
Supreme
Court
of
Ghana
is
quite
unique
and
different
from
other
Supreme
Courts
around
the
world.
Godfred
Dame
said
this
while
rejecting
claims
that
President
Nana
Addo
Dankwa
Akufo-Addo
is
packing
the
Supreme
Court
following
the
recent
request
by
the
Chief
Justice
to
appoint
five
more
justices
of
the
apex
court.
“What
I
am
aware
of
is
the
request
from
Chief
Justice,
I
believe
that
the
Judiciary
is
no
doubt
better
placed
to
provide
ample
justification
for
the
need
for
an
enhanced
Supreme
Court,
but
again
it
is
worthy
to
note
that
the
Supreme
Court
of
Ghana
is
quite
unique
and
different
from
other
Supreme
Courts
around
the
world,”
he
said
in
an
interview
on
the
sidelines
of
the
United
States
Independence
Day
Event
at
the
Embassy
Garden
in
Accra.
So
it
is
not
the
case
that
you
are
packing
the
court?
he
was
asked.
In
answer,
Godfred
Dame
said,
“Definitely
not
so
what
is
this
allegation
about
packing
the
court.”