$10m, Revocation of Suspension: Details of CJ Torkornoo’s ECOWAS court suit against government
Details of the action taken by the embattled Chief Justice are now emerging.
According to a report by gbcghanaonline.com, Justice Torkornoo filed two applications at the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against the Government.
The report indicated that the applications, a main application and a motion for provisional measures, were filed and received at the registry of the Community Court of Justice in Abuja, Nigeria, on Friday, 4 July 2025, by Femi Falana SAN of Falana & Falana Chambers in Nigeria, for and on behalf of the suspended Chief Justice.
Justice Torkornoo, in the application, contended that her right to a fair hearing, guaranteed by both the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and the 1991 Protocol of the Community Court of Justice, had been blatantly disregarded in the ongoing processes for her removal.
The report further indicated that the Government of Ghana has been served with the applications through the Office of the Attorney‑General.
The Government has five days to respond to the motion for provisional measures and 30 days to respond to the main application, per the rules of the court.
Justice Torkornoo, in her suit, accused President John Dramani Mahama of failing to specify the claims in the petitions for her removal upon which he relied to suspend her.
“Fairness implies that the President, in making the prima facie determination with the Council of State, must specify the particular charges in respect of which a prima facie case is deemed to have been established and the reasons for the same.
“The President’s letter failed to do this. It simply stated that a prima facie case has been found against the Applicant without more. To date, the Applicant does not know the reasons for the President stating that a prima facie case has been established against her.
“Yet a committee has been formed and is working. The President’s purported prima facie determination was no determination at all, as it failed to meet the standard of a judicious and objective assessment and, as such, was arbitrary and capricious,” part of the application of the Chief Justice is quoted.
The list of the 10 reliefs that Justice Torkornoo is seeking from the ECOWAS Court, including a $10 million compensation, is as follows:
Below are all the reliefs:
1. A declaration that the suspension of the Applicant (Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo) as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana by the President of the Respondent State on 22 April 2025 violated the Applicant’s human right to a fair hearing guaranteed by Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
2. A declaration that the panel instituted by the Respondent (Ghana) to investigate and determine the allegations of misconduct against the Applicant was not constituted to guarantee its independence and impartiality and, as such, has violated the Applicant’s human right to a fair hearing guaranteed by Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
3. A declaration that the purported suspension of the Applicant as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana by the President of the Respondent State on 22 April 2025 constitutes a violation of her human right to fair, equitable and satisfactory conditions of work guaranteed by Article 15 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
4. A declaration that the purported suspension of the Applicant as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana by the President of the Respondent State on 22 April 2025 has exposed her to public ridicule and odium, locally and internationally, and that the said act constitutes a violation of her human right to dignity guaranteed by Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
5. A declaration that, by subjecting the Applicant to an illegal and unfair investigation and trial since April 2025, the Respondent has inflicted injuries on her professional standing and image, thereby exposing her and her family to immeasurable public ridicule.
6. An order to the Respondent Republic to act immediately to prescribe the rules of procedure to govern the investigation of allegations of misconduct against the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana in conformity with the right to a fair hearing guaranteed by the Constitution of Ghana and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
7. An order directing the Respondent to lift the suspension immediately and restore the Applicant to full office until the conclusion of fair constitutional proceedings.
8. An order restraining the Respondent from continuing with the purported inquiry for the removal of the Applicant as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, in its current form, until it conforms to fair‑hearing guarantees.
9. An award of $10 million as compensation for moral and reputational damages suffered by the Applicant as a result of her illegal suspension and unfair investigation.
10. Any other relief(s) as the Honourable Court deems just.
