Former Attorney General, Nii Ayikoi Otoo, has advised both the Executive and the Legislature to respect the authority of the Judiciary and allow due process to take its course in the latest legal action filed by former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo before vetting and appointing Justice Baffoe-Bonnie as the next Chief Justice of Ghana.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story on Friday, October 17, Mr. Otoo said that while the President has acted on the Pwamang Committee’s recommendation regarding Justice Torkonoo’s removal, her new application challenges the grounds on which the decision was made.
He noted that in a country governed by the rule of law, the three arms of government must respect each other’s boundaries and avoid interference in matters pending before the courts.
“In terms of respecting the separation of powers, and not to interfere with the pendency of a matter which is before the court, both the Executive and the Legislature must stay their hands while the case is pending,” he said.
He added that the current judicial process is not an injunction but a judicial review application, which the courts can determine without taking lengthy evidence.
“After all, it is a judicial review application, and when the statement of case is filed, the parties can rely on the sequence of it, and the judges can then rule without necessarily taking evidence, which will take a very long time.
“So, if they want to respect the boundaries of authority, I don’t think anything would prevent them from doing that.”
Mr. Otoo stated that allowing the court to rule on the matter would demonstrate institutional respect and reinforce Ghana’s democratic principles.
“In a country of rule of law, the three arms of government are equal and the one who respect the boundaries of authority exercise rights.
“And therefore, one would have thought that when a matter is pending, both the president and the legislature would want to constrain themselves and hold on and allow the courts to determine the matter,” the former Attorney General said.
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