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ECOWAS Court Dismisses Former CJ Torkornoo’s Bid To Halt Investigative Committee, Orders Ghana to Respond Within 30 Days
The ECOWAS Court of Justice has dismissed former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s application for interim measures seeking to halt the work of the committee that investigated her removal from office.
Deputy Attorney General Dr Justice Srem Sai, who shared details of the ruling on Facebook, said the application “did not satisfy the criteria for a grant of interim measures”.
According to him, the court found that Justice Torkornoo’s “own conduct defeats her claim of imminent and irreparable harm,” noting that she failed to demonstrate any exceptional urgency.
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“The Court is, therefore, satisfied that the Applicant has not demonstrated the existence of an imminent or exceptional circumstance that will justify the urgency of the application filed almost three months after the act complained of,” Justice Sai wrote.
The ruling, delivered via Zoom on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, follows Justice Torkornoo’s request for temporary prohibition orders to stop the committee chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang from continuing its inquiry. The committee’s work ultimately led to her removal and the subsequent swearing-in of Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
While the ECOWAS Court acknowledged that the former Chief Justice presented a prima facie case of alleged human rights violations, it concluded that she had not met the threshold for interim orders. The judges pointed out that nearly three months elapsed between her suspension on April 22, 2025, and the filing of her motion—an interval inconsistent with claims of imminent harm.
The Court also dismissed a preliminary objection raised by the Government of Ghana, which argued that the ECOWAS Court lacked jurisdiction because similar matters were pending before Ghanaian courts.
The judges described this claim as “misplaced”, clarifying that the sub judice principle applies only when a matter is pending judgement elsewhere, not merely because different cases share similar facts.
In its directives, the ECOWAS Court ordered the Government of Ghana to file its response to Justice Torkornoo’s substantive application within 30 days. The state had previously refused to respond, relying on its jurisdictional objection.
During the hearing, the Deputy Attorney General also urged the Court to compel Justice Torkornoo’s legal team to withdraw an application for a default judgement—an application filed due to Ghana’s refusal to respond. However, her lawyers declined, arguing that withdrawing it would only give the state another excuse not to file its response.
With the interim application now dismissed and the jurisdiction challenge resolved, the case proceeds to the substantive stage, where the court will examine Justice Torkornoo’s human rights claims.
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