Accra, Oct. 17, 2025 — The removed Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, has filed a fresh action at the High Court in Accra, challenging what she describes as the “unconstitutional and abusive” actions of the Pwamang Committee, the body that recommended her removal from office.
Filed at exactly 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 16, 2025, under case number HR/0009/2026, the application invokes the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court under Articles 23, 141, and 296 of the 1992 Constitution, and Order 55 of C.I. 47.
In her application for judicial review, Justice Torkornoo is seeking orders of certiorari to quash the findings and recommendations of the Article 146 Committee chaired by Justice Gabriel Pwamang, JSC, as well as the Presidential Warrant dated September 1, 2025, which formally removed her from office.
She is also asking the court to issue prohibition orders restraining the consideration or appointment of a new substantive Chief Justice and preventing the withdrawal of her salary, benefits, and other entitlements pending the outcome of the suit.
Grounds of the Application
In a detailed statement accompanying the motion, Justice Torkornoo contends that the findings of the Pwamang Committee were “unfair, unreasonable, illogical, irrational, perverse, and absurd,” amounting to an abuse of the powers conferred by the Constitution.
She argues that the committee’s conclusions of “stated misconduct” were based on expenditures for her official vacation that were not administered by her, but rather authorized and processed by the Judicial Secretary, the Director of Finance, the Director of Budget, and the Director of Audit — all officers duly responsible under the Judicial Service’s Travel Policy.
According to the former Chief Justice, the said expenditures had not been disallowed nor surcharged by the Auditor-General in the 2023 audited accounts of the Judicial Service, as required under Article 187(7) of the Constitution.
“The committee’s purported finding of misconduct against me for legitimate administrative expenditures duly authorized by the responsible officers of the Judicial Service constitutes an abuse of power and is therefore unconstitutional and illegal,” her affidavit reads in part.
Claims of Constitutional Breach
Justice Torkornoo further argues that the entire proceedings of the Article 146 Committee violated Articles 23, 296, 146(3), 146(7), 280(1), and 295 of the Constitution, and therefore are “illegal, void and of no effect.”
She insists the committee’s work was conducted “in breach of the rules of natural justice” and followed an adversarial procedure contrary to the impartial inquiry required under Article 146.
The former Chief Justice also claims that the committee’s findings on administrative decisions — including the transfer of judges and recommendations for appointments — were within her constitutional duties as head of the Judiciary under Article 125(4), and could not properly amount to misconduct.
Reliefs Sought
Justice Torkornoo is praying the High Court to:
1. Quash the proceedings and recommendations of the Pwamang Committee;
2. Quash the Presidential Warrant removing her from office;
3. Prohibit the appointment of a new Chief Justice;
4. Prevent the denial or withdrawal of her salary and entitlements; and
5. Grant any other reliefs the court may deem fit.
The respondents in the case are the Attorney-General and the President of the Republic, to be served at the Law House and the Jubilee House respectively.
The application, filed by her counsel Adu-Kusi Pruc Legal Chambers, is expected to be heard at a later date to be fixed by the Registrar of the High Court.
If successful, the suit could reopen one of the most contentious judicial and constitutional debates in recent years — the removal of a sitting Chief Justice and the scope of presidential and committee powers under Article 146 of Ghana’s Constitution
