A private citizen, Elorm Kwami Gorni, has invoked the exclusive original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court asking it to declare the legal vacation observed by Superior Courts as unconstitutional.
The Superior Courts in Ghana are the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court itself.
In a writ filed last Friday [August 7, 2026] which has the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice himself as defendants, Mr Gorni, wants the highest court of the land to declare that the complete suspension of sittings by the Superior Courts during the legal vacation is inconsistent with Articles 1(2), 19(1), 23, 33, 125 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution, and is therefore null, void and of no effect.
He is also asking the court to order the Chief Justice to make administrative arrangements, including rotational vacation sittings, to ensure the Superior Courts continue hearing and determining cases throughout the year.
Specifically, Mr Gorni is praying the court to strike down Rule 61(b) of the Court of Appeal Rules, 1997 (C.I. 19), and Rule 82 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1996 (C.I. 16), to the extent that they permit the two courts to suspend sittings from August 1 to September 30 each year.
Argument
Mr Gorni is of the contention that the suspension of sittings denies litigants their constitutional right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time, amounts to unfair administrative action, and renders the constitutional right of appeal illusory for a continuous two-month stretch every year.
He further argued that less restrictive alternatives, such as rotational sittings, staggered judicial leave or specially constituted vacation panels, are available, given the increased number of Justices on the Superior Courts bench, making a blanket suspension neither necessary nor proportionate.
