Let your tenure be marked by modernisation, order and rule of law, Akufo-Addo tells Chief Justice

President Akufo-Addo has admonished the newly appointed Chief Justice of the Republic, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, to do everything within her mandate to ensure that her tenure at the head of the Supreme Court is marked by order, fairness and uncompromising respect for the rule of law.

He also charged Chief Justice Torkornoo to continue the expansion of the judicial service infrastructure programme started by her immediate predecessor, Chief Justice (rtd) Anin Yeboah, and to make the modernisation of judicial functions her top priority during her tenure in the high office of Chief Justice.

High expectations

President Akufo-Addo gave the Chief Justice the charge after administering the Oaths of Allegiance and Secrecy and the Judicial Oath to her at a swearing-in ceremony, held on Monday (12 June 2023) in a makeshift auditorium mounted at Jubilee House, the seat of the country’s presidency.

“I have no doubt that Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo will be an effective leader of the judiciary, zealously defend its independence, constantly uphold its dignity, and be a worthy successor to Chief Justice Anin Yeboah,” he said.

“I am expectant that her tenure as Chief Justice will also be marked by order, fairness, diligence, deep-seated respect for the rule of law, and continuation of the modernisation of judicial functions and the expansion of judicial infrastructure,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Assurance of support

In his statement, President Akufo-Addo assured Chief Justice Torkornoo and the entire Judicial Service that his government will continue to offer the service every necessary support in discharging their constitutional mandate.

“I want to assure Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo that, just as I did with her predecessor, I will be a dependable and trustworthy partner of the judiciary, so that the executive and judiciary can work together in the spirit of mutual respect to consolidate the tenets of good governance for the benefit of the Ghanaian people,” Akufo-Addo said.

Overly qualified

On the qualifications of the new Chief Justice, President Akufo-Addo said the Council of State and every other body that participated in her nomination and approval vouched for her competence and her credentials to occupy the role as Chief Justice.

“The choice of Mrs Gertrude Torkornoo as the 15th Chief Justice was not a particularly difficult one to make, in view of her level of qualification, the number of years served with distinction on the bench in the superior courts of judicature, totalling 19 years – initially in the high court, then at the Court of Appeal and finally at the Supreme Court – and the considerable experience garnered as a result,” President Akufo-Addo said.

“In 2004, she was appointed by the second president of the Fourth Republic, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, my own boss, to the high court, where she served for eight years.

“In October 2012, she was appointed by the fourth president of the Fourth Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, as a justice of the Court of Appeal, a position she held for seven years.

“I had the honour on 17 December 2019 to appoint her to the Supreme Court. All three living presidents of the republic have each had a hand in her judicial advancement,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Budgetary support

Making her investiture remarks, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo accepted “with utmost humility and a sense of deep obligation to the nation” the responsibility entrusted to her to lead the judiciary, the third arm of government.

She pledged to give her utmost to the Republic of Ghana.

Chief Justice Torkornoo also said that there is a need for an increase in the budget of the judiciary to allow the service room to expand its infrastructure, particularly through its automation and digitalisation agenda, because “undoubtedly, the efficiency of court processes and administration is assured with more deliberate use of technology”.

“As Chief Justice, I wish to express my determination to relentlessly seek the support of the legislature in matters of the budget of the judiciary and the support of both the executive and legislature for accelerated infrastructure in technology, and for innovative models of doing business with technology,” she said.

“The expansion of electronically accessed library services will require support. An increase in the percentage returned to the Judicial Service from our internally generated funds will greatly help to accelerate the work that needs to be done,” the Chief Justice argued.

“The raising of facilities to create world-class centres of judicial learning, and exhibition of historical accounts around the development of justice systems, will be a target for revenue creation,” Chief Justice Torkornoo added.

Legal education

On the question of legal education, Chief Justice Torkornoo noted that the statutory duties of her office “stretch beyond the administration of justice to include oversight of legal learning as chair of the General Legal Council and the Board of Legal Education”.

To this end, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo observed that “the development of democracy has placed greater attention on the learning of law”.

“I stretch a humble hand to the Bar, institutions of legal learning, legislature and all stakeholders to assist with interventions for raising standards of excellence in the training of lawyers,” the Chief Justice said.

“For the danger of bad lawyering lies not only in losses for those represented, but also decreased values in the nation’s economy. In assuring of quality legal learning, we can only win together,” she said.

Profile of CJ Torkornoo

Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo hails from Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana. She was born on 11 September 1962 in Cape Coast. She had her secondary education at Wesley Girls’ High School (for her Ordinary Level certificate) and Achimota School for her Advanced Level certificate.

She received her tertiary education at the University of Ghana and completed the Ghana School of Law in 1986. Before joining Fugar & Co, a law firm in Accra, as a pupil associate, Torkornoo worked as a volunteer at the FIDA Legal Aid Service and served her internship at Nabarro Nathanson in London.

She returned to Fugar & Co in 1994 to become its director.

In January 1997, she became a managing partner at Sozo Law Consult, until 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.

She had been a justice of the Court of Appeal until her nomination for the role of Supreme Court Judge in November 2019. She was sworn into office on 17 December 2019.

Before her appointment as a justice of the Supreme Court, Torkornoo has held a number of leadership positions, including supervising judge of the commercial courts, chair of the editorial committee of the Association of Magistrates and Judges, and chief editor for the Development of Judicial Ethics Training Manual.

She is also a vice-chair of the e-justice steering/oversight committee, vice-chair of the internship and clerkship programme for the judiciary, a faculty member of the Judicial Training Institute, and a member of the governing board of the Judicial Training Institute.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

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