This is a list of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ghana. The Constitution of Ghana provides for the court to be made up of the Chief Justice of Ghana and not less than nine other Justices of the Supreme Court. It shall be duly constituted by at least five Supreme Court judges.[1]
Article 144 clause 1 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana stipulates that the Chief Justice of Ghana is to be appointed by the President of Ghana acting in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of the Parliament of Ghana. Article 144 clause 2 states that Justices of the Supreme court are appointed on the advice of the Judicial Council in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of Parliament. Where the position of Chief Justice is vacant or where the holder of the position is unable to perform their duties for a period, the most senior member of the Supreme Court shall act as Chief Justice as in clause 6 of Article 144.[2] In May 2020, President Akufo-Addo appointed four additional judges to the Supreme Court.[3]
According to Article 145 clause 4 of the constitution, a Supreme Court Judge is expected to vacate their office on reaching the age of seventy years. They can carry on up to an additional six months to ensure that they are able to complete any proceedings they may have been involved in at that stage.[4] The judges are guaranteed job security. Article 146 states the conditions for their removal as "except for stated misbehaviour or incompetence or on ground of inability to perform the functions of his office arising from infirmity of body or mind." The procedure for this has also been clearly stated in the constitution.[2]
width=75 | Served from ! | width=100 | Name ! | Previous judicial office | Appointed by | Served until | width=100 | Replacing ! | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court | Inaugural | Chief Justice of Ghana 1957–1963 Dismissed by Kwame Nkrumah[5] | |||||||
2 | Appeal Court Judge 1957 | Inaugural | Retired when Supreme Court acquitted Tawia Adamafio and others on treason charges | |||||||
3 | Appeal Court Judge | Inaugural | ||||||||
4 | [6] | High Court Judge | Inaugural | Chief Justice 1964–1966 Removed after coup d'état | ||||||
5 | [7] | [8] | Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana (1958–1960) | Inaugural | Speaker of Parliament of Ghana | |||||
6 | [9] | High Court Judge 1959 | Supreme Court was replaced by the Appeals Court in 1966 | |||||||
6 | [10] | Appeal Court Judge | Supreme Court replaced by the Appeals Court in 1972 Chief Justice 1973–1977 | |||||||
7 | High Court Judge 2 July 1956 – 1962 | Kwame Nkrumah | Dismissed 2 March 1964 by Nkrumah Member of Constitutional Commission 1966–1967 | |||||||
8 | [11] | High Court Judge Jan 1960 Attorney General 1961–1962 | Acting Chief Justice (1965)[12] [13] | |||||||
9 | [14] | High Court Judge | Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana 1969–1972 | |||||||
10 | Private legal practitioner | Dismissed 2 March 1964 by Nkrumah | ||||||||
11 | Private legal practitioner | Kwame Nkrumah | Dismissed 2 March 1964 by Nkrumah.[15] Reinstated by the NLC as an Appeals Court judge. Chief Justice (1966–1970) | |||||||
12 | [16] [17] | High Court Judge | ||||||||
13 | High Court Judge | |||||||||
14 | [18] | High Court Judge | Supreme Court replaced by Appeals Court | |||||||
14 | Appeal Court Judge | Kofi Busia | 1972 | Supreme Court replaced by Appeals Court | ||||||
14 | Appeal Court Judge | 1986 | Chief Justice of Ghana 1977–1986 Chief Justice of Kenya 1993–1995 | |||||||
15 | [19] | High Court Judge | Kwame Nkrumah | Supreme Court Judge in Zambia 1976–1980.[20] | ||||||
16 | High Court Judge | Supreme Court was replaced by the Appeals Court in 1966 by the National Liberation Council | ||||||||
16 | Appeal Court Judge | Kofi Busia | Dismissed by NRC Military government. | |||||||
17 | High Court Judge | Kwame Nkrumah | Supreme Court replaced by the Appeals Court by the then NLC government. | |||||||
18 | [21] | Legal adviser to Ghana Police and Ghana Airways (1967–70) | Kofi Busia | [22] | Chief Justice 1970–1972 Sacked by NRC Military government. | |||||
19 | [23] | Interim Electoral Commissioner | ||||||||
19 | 24 October 1980[24] | Appeal Court Judge | 1981 | |||||||
20 | [25] | Sacked by NRC Military government. | ||||||||
21 | [26] | |||||||||
22 | High Court Judge (1960–1964) Private legal practitioner | |||||||||
23 | Appeal Court Judge (1969–1970) | Supreme Court replaced by Appeals Court | ||||||||
23 | Appeal Court Judge (1972–1980) | Hilla Limann | July 1982[27] | Retired voluntarily in July 1982 Later became a justice of the Appeal Court of the Gambia | ||||||
24 | [28] | [29] | Attorney General 1969–1971 | Acting Chief Justice (1990 to 1991)[30] [31] | ||||||
25 | [32] | Appeal Court judge | 1983 | Retired in 1983 | ||||||
25 | 1991 | 21 February 1995 | Chief of Justice 1991–1995 | |||||||
26 | Appeal Court Judge | Hilla Limann | 1990[33] | Chief Justice of Ghana 1986–1990 | ||||||
27 | [34] | High Court Judge | [35] | |||||||
28 | [36] [37] [38] | [39] | Appeal Court Judge | Jerry Rawlings | ||||||
29 | [40] | Appeal Court Judge | ||||||||
30 | [41] [42] | [43] | Appeal Court Judge | [44] [45] [46] | ||||||
31 | Appeal Court Judge | [47] | Chief Justice of Seychelles 1990–1993 Chief Justice of Ghana. Died in office. | |||||||
32 | Appeal Court Judge | [48] | ||||||||
33 | [49] [50] | [51] | ||||||||
34 | [52] | Appeals Court Judge | 2003 | Chief Justice of Ghana 2001–2003 | ||||||
35 | [53] | Director of Public Prosecutions 2nd Deputy Speaker of the Consultative Assembly | [54] | First female justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana[55] and first female Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana | ||||||
36 | [56] | Private legal practice | ||||||||
37 | [57] | Appeal Court Judge | [58] | Acting Chief Justice (25 March 2007 to15 June 2007)[59] | ||||||
38 | Appeal Court Judge | |||||||||
39 | [60] | Appeal Court Judge | Resigned in October 2002 on personal grounds | |||||||
40 | [61] | Appeals Court Judge | Chief Justice of Ghana. Died in office. | |||||||
41 | Private legal practitioner | Chief Justice (2017–2019) | ||||||||
42 | [62] | Appeal Court Judge | Died in office[63] | |||||||
43 | Acting Chief Justice (21 February 2017 to 19 June 2017)23 years in Supreme Court | |||||||||
44 | [64] | Appeal Court Judge | ||||||||
45 | Appeal Court Judge | |||||||||
46 | 28 November 2000[65] | [66] | Private legal practitioner | |||||||
47 | 28 November 2000[67] | Appeal Court Judge | ||||||||
48 | [68] | Appeal Court Judge | [69] | |||||||
49 | [70] | Appeal Court Judge 1991–2002 | Chief Justice 2007–2017 | |||||||
50 | Appeal Court Judge | 3 March 2004 | ||||||||
51 | Appeal Court Judge | |||||||||
52 | Private legal practitioner | 20 March 2007 | ||||||||
53 | [71] [72] | [73] | 12 March 2004 | |||||||
54 | 16 September 2003[74] [75] | Special Adviser (Legal) at the Commonwealth Secretariat, London | ||||||||
55 | 14 May 2004[76] | [77] | Died in office | |||||||
56 | [78] | [79] | Appeal Court Judge | |||||||
57 | Appeal Court Judge | Acting Chief Justice (20 December 2019 to 7 January 2020)[80] | ||||||||
58 | ||||||||||
59 | [81] | Appeal Court Judge | [82] | Judge on United Nations Appeals Tribunal 2009–2016 | ||||||
60 | [83] | Appeal Court Judge | ||||||||
61 | Justice of the Court of Appeal (2003–2008) | 24 May 2023 | Chief Justice (7 January 2020 to 24 May 2023)[84] [85] | |||||||
62 | Appeal Court Judge Supreme Court Judge in the Gambia | 8 June 2023[86] | Acting Chief Justice (24 May 2023 to 8 June 2023)[87] | |||||||
63 | [88] | Appeal Court Judge | Incumbent | |||||||
64 | Appeal Court Judge | [89] | ||||||||
65 | [90] | Appeal Court Judge | [91] | |||||||
66 | Appeal Court Judge | 2011 | ||||||||
67 | Appeal Court Judge | [92] [93] | ||||||||
68 | [94] | Appeal Court Judge | ||||||||
69 | Appeal Court Judge | January 2020[95] | ||||||||
70 | [96] | Appeal Court Judge | August 2021 | |||||||
71 | Private legal practitioner | Incumbent | ||||||||
72 | [97] | Private legal practitioner | 28 July 2023[98] | President of the Ghana Bar Association (2012–2016) | ||||||
73 | Appeal Court Judge | 2 October 2022[99] | ||||||||
74 | 28 July 2023 | |||||||||
75 | Appeal Court Judge | 10 August 2021 | Died in office[100] | |||||||
76 | [101] [102] | [103] | Appeal Court Judge | Incumbent | President of Ghana chapter, International Association of Women Judges, 2014 | |||||
77 | Appeal Court Judge | Incumbent | Sophia Adinyira | |||||||
78 | Appeal Court Judge | Incumbent | Vice-chair, e-Justice Committee Judicial Training Institute Board memberChief Justice (Appointed on 12 June 2023)[104] | |||||||
79 | [105] | Appeal Court Judge[106] | Incumbent | Julius Ansah[107] | ||||||
80 | [108] | Appeal Court Judge | 4 September 2022 | Although officially retired on 4 September 2022, he was granted some time by the Chief Justice (Anin Yeboah) to conclude a pending case.[109] He was removed from the case in February 2023.[110] | ||||||
81 | Incumbent | |||||||||
82 | Private legal practitioner | Incumbent | ||||||||
83 | 28 December 2022[111] [112] | Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu | Appeal Court Judge[113] | Incumbent | Samuel Marful-Sau | |||||
84 | 28 December 2022 | Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu | Appeal Court Judge | Incumbent | Yaw Appau | |||||
85 | 5 April 2023 | George Kingsley Koomson | Appeal Court Judge | Incumbent | Agnes Dordzie | |||||
86 | 5 April 2023 | Ernest Gaewu | High Court Judge | Incumbent | Clemence Jackson Honyenuga | |||||
87 | 3 January 2024 | Henry Anthony Kwofie | Appeal Court Judge | Incumbent | Nene Amegatcher | |||||
88 | 3 January 2024 | Yaw Darko Asare | Appeal Court Judge | Incumbent | Kwasi Anin-Yeboah | |||||
89 | 3 January 2024 | Richard Adjei-Frimpong | Appeal Court Judge | Incumbent | Jones Dotse |