Former Greater Accra President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Frank Davis has stated that if the President indeed did not strictly follow the advice of the Judicial Council on the appointment of Justices to the Supreme Court, then the Article 144 (2) of the constitution may have been breached.<\/p>\n
It has emerged that the Judicial Council had, in its written advice to the President, recommended in a ranking order that Justice Maful Sau of the Appeals Court, Professor Henrietta Mensah Bonsu of the University of Ghana, Sole Commissioner, Justice Yaw Apau and PNC\u2019s Gabriel Scott Pwamang.<\/p>\n
However, the President bypassed Justice Sau and Professor Bonsu and chose Justice Apau and Gabriel Pwamang who were sworn in on Monday.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”gjB0Xbxg9j4AavLWR8VEVBcRRukhsAhs”]This is what reportedly influenced the decision by the GBA to file a writ at the Supreme Court<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>on Tuesday to seek interpretation of Article 144 (2) and also a possible nullification of the appointment of newly sworn in Justices of the Supreme Court, Justice Yaw Apau and Justice Gilbert Pwamang.<\/p>\n Article 144 clause (2) of the 1992 Constitution states that all appointments made by the President of the Republic of Ghana to the Supreme Courts are valid only to the extent that such appointments are made in strict accordance with the advice of the Judicial Council.<\/p>\n Speaking on Eyewitness News<\/strong>, Frank Davis stated that \u201cif this was the list which was submitted to the President in going by the dictates of the constitution, and the Judicial Council had given its advice in this order of priority, I think the advice of the Judicial Council should be adhered to\u2026I think it is required that the President will act in conformity to that advice.\u201d<\/p>\n He argued that if the President can have the discretion to appoint Justices to the Highest Court of the land without advice, then there was no need in sending names to the Judicial Council for further scrutiny.<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed, if that is what the case is, then the exercise will be really, really irrelevant and unnecessary because then it becomes redundant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He added that \u201cif this it is in the order of priority, I would have thought that in accordance with the rule of law and by the clear understanding of the constitution, the President should have gone by the formula by the President has decided to do something else so let us see what the Supreme Court will say.\u201d<\/p>\n Processes of appointment<\/strong><\/p>\n Frank Davis explained that per the Article 144 (2), the President is expected to submit names of persons who are intended to be elevated to the Superior Court bench in the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n The persons listed will then appear before the Judicial Council which will take them through interviews and other related matters.<\/p>\n The Judicial Council in its wisdom will then reduce the number of people who have been seconded for elevation to the Supreme Court in order of priority.<\/p>\n This, he said is what informs the language of Article 144 (2).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @ osamidan<\/a>
\n