Chief Justice nominee, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo says Judges do not enjoy ex-gratia as other public office holders do.
Appearing before the Appointment’s Committee of Parliament for her vetting on Friday May 26, 2023, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, explained that the framers of the Constitution took a prudent decision make judges independent.
She stated that it will take an elaborate procedure to vary the entrenched provision of emoluments for judges.
“I think that consistently the Association of Judges and Magistrates have responded to the question of ex-gratia for judges and made it very clear that judges don’t receive ex-gratia. We continue in office, we don’t go anywhere until we retire. We don’t have a cycle, and therefore, the discussion of ex-gratia is not at all applicable to us,” Justice Torkonoo emphasized.
“This specific provision, where our names are mentioned, due to how our salaries are set under Article 71, it’s a presidential committee that does that work. And the framers of the Constitution thought that, that was the appropriate thing to keep us independent, and we are not the only persons subject to it. This is an entrenched provision and can only be changed by a very elaborate procedure,” the Chief Justice nominee added.
Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, if approved, will become the third female Chief Justice in the history of Ghana, after Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.
She replaces Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, who retires as Chief Justice on May 24, 2023, when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 for justices of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court