By: Ashiadey Dotse
The ECOWAS Court of Justice has dismissed an application filed by former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo seeking to stop the committee that investigated her removal from office.
Justice Torkonoo had asked the regional court to issue temporary orders preventing the committee, chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, from continuing its work.
The committee was set up by the President to look into the events leading to her suspension and eventual removal, followed by the swearing-in of her successor, Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
In its ruling on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, the ECOWAS Court said that although Justice Torkonoo had shown a prima facie case suggesting her human rights may have been violated, she failed to prove any urgency that required the court to halt the committee’s activities.
The judges pointed out that she was suspended on April 22, 2025, and knew that the process was ongoing, yet waited three months before filing her request. This delay, they said, weakened her claim that she faced immediate or irreversible harm.
The court therefore dismissed her request for a prohibition order.
The ECOWAS Court also threw out a preliminary objection raised by the Government of Ghana. The Attorney General had argued that the matter was sub judice because similar issues were before a Ghanaian court. But the regional court held that the objection was “misplaced.”
According to the ruling, Justice Torkonoo is not asking the ECOWAS Court to review or overturn any Ghanaian court decision. Instead, she is alleging human rights violations during her suspension and removal process.
The judges added that the sub judice principle applies only when a case is awaiting judgment in another court, not simply because two cases involve related issues.
The ECOWAS Court concluded that it has jurisdiction to hear the main case. It declared the application admissible and instructed the Attorney General to file a response as the substantive matter proceeds.
