The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the consolidated cases challenging the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, bringing an end to the domestic legal battle over her dismissal.
A seven-member panel of the apex court, presided over by Justice Amadu Tanko, on Thursday, July 2, 2026, ruled that the suits lacked merit and accordingly dismissed them.
The decision effectively ends all legal attempts within Ghana to overturn Justice Torkornoo’s removal from office, a process that generated significant public, political and judicial debate following her suspension and eventual dismissal in September 2025.
Four separate lawsuits were filed in 2025 after a prima facie case was established based on petitions seeking her removal. The cases were brought by Tafo MP Vincent Ekow Assafuah, private citizen Theodore Atta Quartey, former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, and the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES).
The Supreme Court later consolidated the actions into two cases for hearing.
Justice Torkornoo was officially removed from office on September 1, 2025, following the recommendations of a five-member committee of inquiry chaired by Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang. The committee was constituted under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution to investigate petitions alleging stated misbehaviour.
According to the committee’s findings, the former Chief Justice was found culpable of several breaches, including the alleged misuse of public funds through travel-related expenditures and payments involving family members, as well as violations of constitutional procedures governing judicial administration.
Her dismissal marked a historic moment in Ghana’s Fourth Republic, making her the first sitting Chief Justice to be removed from office through the constitutional process.
The Supreme Court’s ruling comes just days after the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice also dismissed all claims filed by Justice Torkornoo against the Republic of Ghana. The regional court ruled that Ghana had not violated any of her rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and rejected her claim for compensation.
With Thursday’s judgment by the Supreme Court, all domestic legal challenges relating to Justice Torkornoo’s removal have now been concluded, bringing finality to one of the most closely watched judicial cases in Ghana’s recent history.
