President nominates Justice Mrs Torkornoo as new Chief Justice

 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday nominated Justice Mrs Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo as the new Chief Justice.

According to the President, her nomina­tion was to avoid any vacuum that would occur following the retirement of the current Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah on May 24.

A letter dated April 25 and addressed to the Council of State in Accra, said, the nomination of Justice Torkonoo was to begin the process of appointment in line with Article 144 (1) of the constitution, which required the President to first consult with the Council of State before seeking the approval of Parliament.

“Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah is due to retire from the bench on May 24, 2023, his seventieth birthday. In order to avoid a vacuum and ensure that a new Chief Justice is immediately in office after his retirement.

“I am nominating Justice Mrs Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, a member of the Supreme Court, as the new Chief Justice. I hereby enclose a copy of her curriculum vitae for your attention,” the letter stated.

Following the nomination, Justice Mrs Torkornoo would be vetted by Parliament and approve her nomination or otherwise.

She will become the third female Chief Justice in the history of Ghana after Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.

Born on September 11, 1962 at Cape Coast, Justice Mrs Gertrude Torkornoo hails from Winneba in the Central Region.

She attended Wesley Girls’ High School where she obtained her Ordinary Level certificate and Achimota School for her Advanced Level certificate.

She was admitted into the University of Ghana and graduated from the Ghana School of Law in 1986.

In 2001 she obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in International Law and Organ­isation from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), part of Erasmus University in the Netherlands.

In 2011, she graduated from the Golden Gate University, USA with an LLM in Intel­lectual Property Law.

Prior to joining Fugar & Co., a law firm in Accra as an associate, Justice Torkornoo worked as a volunteer at the FIDA Legal Aid Service and did an internship with Nabarro Nathanson in London.

She returned to the firm (Fugar & Co.) in 1994 to become a director.

In January 1997, she co-founded Sozo Law Consult where she worked as Manag­ing Partner until May 14, 2004 when she was appointed a Justice of the High Court of Ghana.

She worked as a High Court judge until October 2012 when she was promoted to the Court of Appeal.

In November 2019, Justice Mrs Torkor­noo was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Akufo-Addo.

Justice Mrs Torkornoo has held several leadership roles in the Judicial Service.

In her work as chair of E-Justice Com­mittee, she led the planning of automation of all levels of courts, procurement and incorporation of the use of electronic resources and software in the work of the Judicial Service.

She has also served as the Supervising Judge of commercial courts since 2013 where she chaired the meetings and pro­grammes of the Users Committee of the Commercial Courts.

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