President Akufo-Addo: Supreme Court rulings must enhance national development.
According to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Supreme Court justices must be knowledgeable, be familiar with relevant case law, and ensure that their decisions and judgements are properly motivated to support the nation’s orderly growth.
He claimed that the Supreme Court’s judges’ perspectives were crucial for national development, particularly during these trying times, as the policy court where significant rulings on socioeconomic growth were crafted in response to the needs of the time.
This was said by President Akufo-Addo on Wednesday at the Jubilee House in Accra when he swore in Justices Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu and Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu as Supreme Court justices (December 28, 2022).
Replacements of Supreme Court Judges
Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, who passed away in August 2021, and Justice Yaw Apau, who retired in August 2021, were succeeded by Justices Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu and Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu.
To fill the vacancies left by the retirement of Justices Clemence Jackson Honyenuga in September 2022 and Agnes Mercy Abla Dordzie in October 2022, President Akufo-Addo has nominated two additional candidates, Justice George Kingsley Koomson and Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, who are awaiting approval from Parliament.
Basis of Judgements
The President stated that it was unacceptable for judges to issue judgments based on lower court rulings and use them as precedent, and it was much worse when a judge issued orders without providing any justification.
He instructed the two judges of the supreme court to remember that it was crucial to keep in mind that the development of the country required a judiciary that earned the confidence of the populace via the efficacy of the administration of justice and the conduct of its members.
“Applications of the law must take place without fear, favor, affection, or ill will, and as a result, without recourse to any person’s political, religious, or ethnic ties,” he continued.
President Akufo-Addo pointed out that, according to the constitution, the Supreme Court, which serves as the country’s final court of appeal, is not required to abide by rulings from other courts, including those of its own, and is given all the authority and jurisdiction granted to courts by the Constitution or other laws.
According to him, it was crucial that the justices of the highest court had a solid understanding of the law of precedent, which served as the cornerstone for the development of common law, because all other courts were required to obey the Supreme Court’s rulings on matters of law.
Response of the Judges
While noting the importance of the assignment, Justice Ackah-Yensu said it was both a privilege and a humbling chance for the two of them to be nominated and approved to serve as Supreme Court among many other candidates.
Assuring the people of Ghana that “we shall keep faith and keep the fidelity to the constitution and shall remain committed to our judicial oaths,” she stated that it was for this reason that they gave God the full glory, thanked everyone who had helped make the elevation possible, and gave God all the praise. God is our support.
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