The Attorney-General has filed a motion at the Human Rights Division of the High Court seeking to strike out the suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s application for judicial review.
The A-G’s office argues that the application suffers from fundamental legal defects.
Last week, the suspended Chief Justice instructed her lawyers to file an application at the High Court, asking it to declare as unlawful and void the ongoing proceedings for her removal from office.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, June 25, Justice Torkornoo described the process being undertaken by the committee established under Article 146 of the Constitution as “a total absence of compliance with all known rules of fair hearing.”
“It is this total absence of compliance with all known rules of fair hearing that has caused my lawyers to file applications for judicial review in the High Court to declare all the proceedings void,” she stated.
However, in a sworn affidavit filed by State Attorney Reginald Nii Odoi, the A-G’s office contends that the application contains a “grave misstatement of capacity” and fails to include mandatory parties, thereby rendering it legally incompetent.
The affidavit also argues that the issues raised in the application have either already been adjudicated by the Supreme Court or are currently pending before it.
The Attorney-General maintains that the Human Rights Court lacks the jurisdiction to hear the matter, warning that proceeding with the application would constitute judicial overreach and breach established Supreme Court precedents.
The motion, therefore, seeks to prevent what the A-G describes as parallel litigation on matters already before the apex court.
Source: Myjoyonline
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