The Majority in Parliament says the Chief Justice, per article 125 of the constitution can make proposals to increase the number of Supreme Court judges to 20. In a media briefing in parliament today Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said the majority disagrees with the assertion that the Chief Justice does not have such a mandate to do so.
“We disagree and would say that per article 125 (4) of the constitution, there are some inherent powers provided for in this provision that allow the Chief Justice as a chief executive and head of the judiciary to make such proposals. Quote, ‘the chief justice shall subject to this constitution, be head of the judiciary, and shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the judiciary’.”
“The framers of our constitution in their wisdom gave us a minimum ceiling. What did they anticipate? The anticipation was that there could be a possibility in future to increase the number. That is why they did not provide for an upper ceiling… So if you read this and juxtapose it against the 125, 125, 4 that I earlier referred to, clearly you cannot argue that any increase in the number of judges at the Supreme Court above 10 is unconstitutional or that the chief justice is wrong in making such a suggestion or proposal.”
Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Torkornoo presented five judges to President Akufo-Addo to be nominated to the Supreme Court, attributing this to a high volume of cases but this proposal has been met with stiff opposition by the minority and the NDC.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) criticised this move describing it as unlawful and an attempt by the government to pack the judiciary with loyalists.