The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice has adjourned its ruling on an application filed by Ghana’s suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, who is seeking to halt domestic proceedings for her removal from office, the court announced on Friday.
The court said it would communicate a date for the ruling in due course after hearing arguments from both Torkornoo and the Republic of Ghana in proceedings registered as case ECW/CCJ/APP/32/25.
Torkornoo is asking the regional court to suspend the domestic removal proceedings and reinstate her with full entitlements while her substantive case before the ECOWAS Court remains pending.
Ghana appeared before the regional tribunal to contest its authority to hear the matter. The state argued that the case concerns constitutional processes currently before competent domestic courts, including Ghana’s Supreme Court, and therefore falls outside the regional tribunal’s jurisdiction. Accra further warned that allowing the ECOWAS Court to intervene while related proceedings are active in Ghana risks enabling forum shopping and producing conflicting judicial decisions. The government also maintained that Torkornoo had been properly notified of the petition against her and given access to all relevant documents in accordance with constitutional procedures.
Torkornoo’s legal team pushed back, arguing the dispute is fundamentally a human rights matter rather than a constitutional one. They cited alleged violations of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, specifically rights relating to dignity, fair hearing, and work. Her lawyers told the court that the ongoing removal process has already caused reputational harm, threatens judicial independence, and risks undermining the very case pending before the ECOWAS Court if allowed to continue.
The application before the regional court seeks provisional measures to temporarily suspend the removal proceedings and restore Torkornoo’s entitlements pending a final determination.
The case is being closely watched by legal and political observers across Ghana for its implications on judicial independence and the relationship between domestic constitutional processes and regional human rights enforcement mechanisms.
