President Akufo-Addo has nominated Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, a member of the Supreme Court, as the new Chief Justice.
If approved by Parliament, she is to replace the current Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah who has a month more to hit the retirement age.
In a letter to the Council of State, dated April 25, the President said the nomination is to avoid any vacuum that would occur following the retirement of the current Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah on May 24.
“Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah is due to retire from the bench on May 24, 2023, his 70th birthday. In order to avoid a vacuum and ensure that a new Chief Justice is immediately in office after his retirement, I have decided to begin the process of appointment now.
“Article 144 (1) of the constitution, which governs the appointment of a Chief Justice, requires that, I, first consult with the Council of State before seeking the approval of Parliament.
“Consequently, I am nominating Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, a member of the Supreme Court, as the new Chief Justice,” the President’s letter said.
per this nomination, will be If she successfully goes through the Parliamentary vetting, Justice Mrs Torkornoo will become the third female Chief Justice in the history of Ghana after Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.
Profile of the nominee
Sixty year-old Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, who hails from Winneba in the Central Region, graduated from the Ghana School of Law in 1986.
In 2001, she obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in International Law and Organization from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), part of Erasmus University in the Netherlands. Thereafter, in 2011, she graduated from the Golden Gate University, USA with an LLM in Intellectual Property Law.
Career
Prior to becoming a joining the Judicial Service, Justice Justice Torkornoo worked as a private legal practitioner, first working as a volunteer at the FIDA Legal Aid Service.
She became a director of Fugar & Co. a law firm in Accra in 1994, and in January 1997, she co-founded Sozo Law Consult where she worked as Managing Partner until 14 May 2004 when she was appointed a Justice of the High Court of Ghana. She worked as a High Court judge until October 2012 when she was elevated to the Court of Appeal. Justice Torkornoo was sworn into office as Justice of the Supreme Court on 17th December 2019.
Leadership profile
Justice Torkornoo has held several leadership roles in the Judicial Service including been the chairperson of E-Justice Committee, during which led the planning of automation of all levels of courts, procurement and incorporation of the use of electronic resources and software in the work of the Judicial Service.
She has also served as the Supervising Judge of Commercial Courts since 2013 where she has set the agenda for and chaired the meetings and programmes of the Users Committee of the Commercial Courts.
