Resignation not an option - Suspended Chief Justice

The suspended Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, says she will go through the entire process of the committee hearing a petition for her removal from office in spite of calls for her resignation.

She said in spite of all the threats on her life, public commentaries and calls for her to resign or retire pending the conclusion of the case, she would not do so because "If I resign under these circumstances, I will be saying that this flawed, unknown and opaque process is acceptable; It is not."

“Furthermore, resigning or retiring while Article 146 proceedings are being conducted to remove a Judge is not an option any Judge or public official is even allowed to have.

There is a decided case on the subject by the Supreme Court.

The suit number is J6/02/2019,” she said in Accra yesterday.

At a media briefing, Justice Torkornoo stressed that her decision to soldier on should not be misconstrued to mean that she was clinging to a title or position.

Justice Torkornoo added that despite the great personal discomfort she had endured so far, “I have decided to marshal every effort, in law and leadership, to answer to this situation.”

“As a lawyer of 38 years standing, a Judge of 21 years standing, and Chief Justice of Ghana who has served in the rule of law all of my working life, I consider it my onerous duty and obligation to speak up concerning the administration of justice in this country," she stressed.

Justification

Again, she said no one had the authority to walk away from proceedings started by the State because judgment could be entered against that person for failing to defend themselves.

"And a Judge who resigns or retires would still lose all entitlements because they failed to defend the claims and resigned or retired while the proceedings were going on," she added.

The Chief Justice, who was suspended by  President John Dramani Mahama on April 22, this year and set up a five-member committee to inquire into the petitions in accordance with Article 146(6)(10a), said if false claims were made against a Judge or any Commissioner or other public office holder subject to Article 146 proceedings, "just to achieve a political agenda, the solution cannot be to resign or voluntarily retire out of frustration, pressure or fear."

“It may well be that efforts are being made to make me feel frustrated and resign so that the architects of the scheme can go back into the media to say that the wild and unfounded allegations in the petitions were not defended because they were true or that I had no credible defence to them," she added.

She stressed that as Chief Justice of a country who had been given the onerous duty and obligation to lead administration of justice, she would not turn tail and run when she knew the implications of not defending false and unwarranted charges.

Justice Torkornoo said anyone who chickened out under such situation would only find themselves being subjected to two cruelties - a judgment based on false claims, and loss of everything that one has worked for. 

Irregularities, illegalities

Justice Torkornoo alleged that the processes violated the Constitution and that the proceedings from the filing of the petition against her to the hearing of the case by committee set up by the President were illegal.

For instance, she said, the committee refused, in breach of the rules of natural justice, to recognise her counsel on the first day of proceedings because she was not personally present, and proceeded to fix hearing dates and made arrangement for the hearing without involving her counsel.

Justice Torkornoo also said the committee failed to indicate the specific allegations in respect of which a prima facie case had been established, as well as the reasons, to enable her to determine her legal rights or adequately prepare a defence to the charges against her.

She also described as troubling “the committee’s decision to permit two of the petitioners (Mr Daniel Ofori and Shining Stars) not to testify to enable me to cross-examine them on their petitions; and a denial of opportunity to be in the hearing room with my husband or a close family member.”

The suspended Chief Justice also said she had always been subjected to a thorough search on her body and handbags in violation of protocols and courtesies extended to the Chief Justice in honour of the country, domestically and internationally.

Also, “the conduct of the hearings in a cordoned high security zone on Castle Drive, Osu, when all Article 146 proceedings since 1993, had been held in a judicial facility at the Judicial Service, Accra, is clear that the choice of venue, against the background of the secrecy of proceedings, was intended to intimidate me and to prevent any citizen of Ghana from knowing how the proceedings are being conducted,” she added. 

Concerns

Justice Torkornoo said since the petition for the removal of a chief Justice was historic in the entire 68-year journey, it was hoped that if such a process became necessary, it would provide good guidance and precedent for nation building.

“Unfortunately, every step of the removal process being undertaken against me is being done in a manner that breaks every rule on how justice is delivered in the country,” she said.

The suspended Chief Justice added that although she was in the process alone, the ripple effects of the petition for her removal was far-reaching.

“This process will affect how all High Court Justices, Justices of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court Justices and all Chief Justices that will be appointed in the future may be removed from office.

It also affects Commissioners and Heads of independent constitutional bodies set up to protect the freedom and justice of Ghanaian citizens as guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution,” she said. 

Background

On Tuesday, March 25, this year, the President informed the nation that he had begun a consultative process with the Council of State in response to three petitions seeking the removal of the Chief Justice.

The three petitions were forwarded to the Council of State, in line with the constitutional process outlined in Article 146 (6) of the 1992 Constitution.

Following the determination of a prima facie case in the three petitions asking for the removal from office of the Chief Justice, President Mahama suspended her and set up a five-member committee to inquire into the petitions.

The committee is chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, a Justice of the Supreme Court.

Other members are Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, a Justice of the Supreme Court, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, a former Auditor-General, Major Flora Bazaanura Dalugo from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), and Professor James Sefah Dzisah, an associate Professor at the University of Ghana.

The five-member committee started work on Thursday, May 15, this year.