Hot SourceThe Office of the Attorney-General, has asked the Accra High Court to strike out a fresh legal challenge filed by embattled Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, in her ongoing bid to halt impeachment proceedings against her.
In the latest suit, the embattled Chief Justice, argues that one of the entities behind the petition seeking her removal, Shining Stars of Ghana, lacks legal status and therefore cannot participate lawfully in the process.
However, in an affidavit filed on August 12, on behalf of the Attorney-General, Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem Sai, urged the court to dismiss the application, insisting it has “no basis in law.”
Dr Sai argued that the matters raised by the Chief Justice fall squarely within the remit of the committee established by the President and the Council of State under Article 146 of the Constitution to investigate the petitions, and are therefore subject to the in camera rule.
Such matters, he contended, cannot be entertained in open court.
Regarding the status of Shining Stars of Ghana, Dr Sai maintained that the group may be an unincorporated body of persons, which does not require incorporation or registration to exist in law.
He stressed that the mere absence of a name from the register of companies does not render an entity non-existent in the eyes of the law.
The Deputy Attorney-General concluded that the Chief Justice’s application was “wholly misconceived” and should be struck out.
This marks yet another legal effort by the Chief Justice in recent weeks to stop the impeachment process.
Previous attempts have also been rejected by the courts.
Last month, the Human Rights Division of the High Court in Accra dismissed a judicial review application filed by suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, ruling that the case constituted an abuse of court process and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Kwame Amoako, marks the collapse of a second legal challenge by the suspended Chief Justice over the ongoing proceedings for her potential removal from office under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
This judicial review follows an earlier constitutional interpretation case filed by Justice Torkonoo at the Supreme Court, which is still pending. However, an injunction application she filed to halt the impeachment proceedings, pending the outcome of the Supreme Court case, was previously dismissed.
Filed on June 9, 2025, the judicial review application sought nine reliefs, including a series of declarations that the Article 146 committee investigating her had acted unlawfully. The Chief Justice also requested the court to quash the proceedings of the committee and prohibit it from continuing without providing authenticated copies of the petitions and responses.
In his ruling, Justice Amoako categorized the reliefs into two groups: those dismissed as an abuse of court process, and those dismissed for want of jurisdiction.
The court found that several of the Chief Justice’s claims were already before the Supreme Court in the constitutional interpretation case.
These included allegations that the committee was proceeding unlawfully due to the Registry’s failure to provide authenticated petitions and responses; a request to prohibit the committee from continuing its work without those authenticated documents; claims that the committee was wrongfully conducting adversarial proceedings, rather than an impartial inquiry; and allegations that the committee’s composition was unlawful.
Justice Amoako held that re-litigating these issues at the High Court, while they are under active consideration by the Supreme Court, amounted to duplicative litigation and an abuse of the court process.
The remaining reliefs were struck out on jurisdictional grounds, including a request to nullify the committee’s sittings on the basis that the Chief Justice was denied a fair hearing; allegations that her legal team was prevented from representing her during the proceedings; claims of procedural breaches of the Constitution and the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules and an application for an order of certiorari to quash the committee’s proceedings.
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