building
in
Ghana
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A
private
legal
practitioner
Kwaku
Asare
has
described
the
request
by
Chief
Justice,
Gertrude
Araba
Torkornoo
for
a
minimum
of
20
justices
of
the
Supreme
Court
to
handle
approximately
600
cases
yearly
as
unreasonable.
He
says
many
Supreme
Courts
around
the
world
manage
double
or
triple
that
number
of
cases
with
about
seven
Justices.
The
Chief
Justice
has
proposed
to
increase
the
number
of
Supreme
Court
judges
to
20.
Gertrude
Torkornoo
presented
five
judges
to
President
Akufo-Addo
to
be
nominated
to
the
Supreme
Court,
attributing
this
to
a
high
volume
of
cases.
In
a
letter
to
the
President,
she
underscored
the
urgent
requirement
for
the
expansion
of
the
Supreme
Court
bench,
stating,
“In
view
of
the
realities
of
the
court’s
workload
and
output
and
the
need
for
the
court
to
appropriately
serve
the
justice
needs
of
the
nation.”
Capping
the
number
of
Supreme
Court
justices
is
not
for
the
Chief
Justice
to
say
–
Mahama
“Two
days
are
used
for
panel
sitting,
and
one
day
for
the
sitting
of
a
single
judge.
The
SCOG
therefore
sits
12
times
a
month.
On
any
given
day
of
sitting,
the
court
deals
with
a
minimum
of
15
cases
and
so
works
on
not
fewer
than
45
matters
in
a
week
or
approximately
180
matters
in
a
month,”
she
clarified.
In
a
Facebook
post,
Prof
Asare
said
“It
is
unreasonable
to
require
a
minimum
of
20
Supreme
Court
Justices
to
handle
approximately
600
cases
annually.
In
comparison,
many
Supreme
Courts
around
the
world
manage
double
or
triple
that
number
of
cases
with
about
seven
Justices.
“To
uphold
the
principle
of
‘a
panel
of
equals,’
it
is
essential
that
no
Supreme
Court
Justice
feels
indebted
to
the
Chief
Justice
for
their
appointment.
The
Chief
Justice’s
request
to
promote
certain
judges
has
irreparably
compromised
the
integrity
of
the
bench.”
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.”