The Appointments Committee of Parliament (ACP) has, by consensus, recommended to the House the approval of two nominees of the President as justices of the Supreme Court.
They are Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu and Justice Samuel Kwame Adu Asiedu.
The committee said the two nominees demonstrated dexterity in the knowledge of the law and showed character and competence.
“They pledged to interpret the law without fear or favour and eschew partisanship in their rulings,” the committee said.
Both Justice Ackah-Yensu and Justice Asiedu are justices of the Court of Appeal.
Report
This was contained in a report the Chairman of the ACP, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who is also the First Deputy Speaker, submitted to the House and requested that same be adopted today.
The report, however, did not contain any details on two other nominees — Justice George Kingsley Koomson and Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu — who were nominated together with Justice Ackah-Yensu and Justice Asiedu by the President.
Nominees
On Tuesday, July 26, 2022, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in accordance with Article 144(2) of the 1992 Constitution, communicated to Parliament the nomination of four justices for appointment to the Supreme Court.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, in accordance with Standing Order 172, referred the nomination of Justice Ackah-Yensu, Justice Asiedu, Justice Koomson and Justice Gaewu to the ACP for consideration and report.
Vetting of nominees
From October 18 to 19, 2022, the 26-member committee commenced a public hearing to consider the nominations.
The four justices were asked questions relating to their curriculum vitae, judicial administration and justice delivery, alternative dispute resolution, judicial attitude towards illegal mining, public perception of corruption in the Judiciary, the building of the
National Cathedral, capital punishment and admission to the Ghana School of Law.
Further enquiries were made about their eligibility, issues pertaining to the office to which they had been nominated, capping the number of judges appointed to the Supreme Court, political interference in the Judiciary, land litigation, congestion in the prisons and other issues of national concern.
Why no decision on other nominees?
The Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, explained that “there was no consensus on Justice Koomson and Justice Gaewu”.
“So they have to be voted upon and their report will have to come separately,” he said.
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