Private legal practitioner Richard Nii Armah has stated that even if former Chief Justice Gertrude Esaaba Torkonoo had secured a victory at the ECOWAS Court, enforcing the ruling within Ghana would have proven difficult.
He noted that there is currently no legal framework in place to guide the enforcement of ECOWAS Court orders within the country.
According to Mr Armah, the dismissed Chief Justice failed to exhaust all available judicial processes in Ghana before approaching the regional court.
Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he explained that a judgment from a Ghanaian court would have been significantly easier to enforce compared to a ruling from the ECOWAS Court.
He added that had she been successful, the outcome would still have needed to be presented before a domestic court to facilitate its enforcement.
Ultimately, the ECOWAS Court ruled in favour of Ghana, dismissing all claims brought forward by the former Chief Justice and denying her $10 million compensation claim after finding no human rights violations.
In its judgment, the court clarified that her suspension did not breach her right to work, rejecting assertions that the action was arbitrary or malicious. It further ruled that her removal followed due process rather than constituting an arbitrary dismissal.
Additionally, the court described as absurd the argument that she should have been removed separately from the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court. It ruled that her membership in those courts was a direct consequence of her role as Chief Justice, meaning she could no longer claim membership once removed from the head position.
Claims regarding undignified treatment—specifically that she was searched, her family was excluded from the proceedings, and the venue choice was compromised—were also rejected, with the court deeming the security and logistical measures both lawful and proportionate.
Responding to the final outcome, Mr Armah reiterated that Ghana is a sovereign state and that orders originating from any external jurisdiction remain difficult to enforce.
“She should have exhausted all the available legal remedies in Ghana. But we will all acknowledge that before exhausting all legal processes in Ghana, she went to the ECOWAS Court. We have courts from the District to the Supreme Court, and when you’ve exhausted all these courts and you don’t get an outcome you wanted, there is nowhere else you can head to.
These international courts don’t really have superior judicial powers over Ghana. Even if she had secured victory, enforcement would have been difficult because we don’t have any existing framework that provides guidelines on how orders from an ECOWAS Court can be enforced. Any victory she had chalked up would have to be brought before the Ghanaian court to have directives on how to enforce it.”
Mr Armah concluded that even if the former Chief Justice were to take her case to another international court, the outcome would likely be the same as the ECOWAS ruling.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
