Fida supports Justice Torkornoo’s nomination
THE International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Ghana) has congratulated Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo on her nomination as the Chief Justice of the country.
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According to FIDA, the leadership shown by Justice Torkornoo in presiding over judiciary reforms had been expansive.
“The impact of the Business Environment Engineering Project(BEEP) is a classic example of your exemplary leadership.
Your penchant for reforms under this project and other progressive senior roles as the lead in the judiciary, having oversight of several reform projects will undoubtedly serve the judiciary’s determination to make groundbreaking reforms and restore confidence and pride in the legal system” FIDA said.
A statement signed on behalf of the President of FIDA, Lydia Lariba Bawa, said “from the long list of achievements to which many have acknowledged, there is no doubt that another stellar performance is in the making that will carve an excellent path for the Judicial service”.
FIDA -Ghana said it was pleased to note that certain legal precedents had already been set which were great examples of gender equitable jurisprudence in the country, saying “the rise of females to the highest position of the Judiciary has also brought attention to the country in the scholarship on judicial politics in Africa” FIDA added.
Affirmative Action Law
Ghana, it said, had been recognised in academic narratives as one of the countries in Africa with an increasing number of women appointees to the judiciary.
“At the same time, it has been established that Rwanda and Ghana are the first two African countries to have elected women to the position of Chief Justice respectively”.
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However, it went further to state that governments needed to be held accountable under compelling legislation to ensure that these appointments were the norm.
“While FIDA-Ghana is excited that Ghana is once again on the cusp of appointing a new female Chief Justice, we would like to reiterate the importance of the passage of an affirmative action law, which will ensure gender equity and equality in the appointment of women to decision-making positions”.
Justice Torkornoo
On April 25, President Akufo-Addo, in a letter, informed the Council of State about his decision to nominate Justice Torkornoo, and impressed on the Council to expedite action on the nominee for onward submission to Parliament for approval, in conformity with Article 144 (1) of the 1992 Constitution.
When she gets the nod from Parliament, 60-year-old Justice Torkornoo will become the country’s third female Chief Justice, after Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.
A native of Winneba in the Central Region, Justice Torkornoo was born in Cape Coast on September 11,1962 and had her ‘O’ Level at the Wesley Girls’ High School and ‘A’ Level at the Achimota School.
She is an alumnus of the University of Ghana and graduated from the Ghana School of Law in June, 1986.
In 2001, she obtained a Post-graduate Diploma in International Law and Organisation from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), part of Erasmus University in the Netherlands and further graduated from the Golden Gate University, USA in 2011, with an LLM in Intellectual Property Law.
She also served as a volunteer at the FIDA Legal Aid Service and did an internship at Nabarro Nathanson in London.
She became a Justice of the High Court from May, 2004 to October 2012. She was appointed to the Court of Appeal from October 2012 to 2019 when she was elevated to the Supreme Court.