Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, has defended the recent suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, stating that no constitutional provision prohibits the president from taking action while a matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
His remarks follow criticism from former Member of Parliament and private legal practitioner, Samuel Atta Akyea, who described the suspension as unconstitutional and possibly contemptuous of the Supreme Court.
Atta Akyea pointed to an interlocutory injunction application filed by the MP for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, which is yet to be determined.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, Dr. Srem-Sai explained that public officials must balance competing interests and cannot be expected to halt all decisions simply because a legal challenge has been initiated.
He stressed that unless a court has issued a specific order to halt a public duty, it is legally permissible for the president or any public officer to proceed.
“When people make such assertion, what they forget is that you are balancing interest as an official. So, if the president says that ‘I will not proceed until a court’s decision is made’ the other side is that there is a group of people who are aggrieved and have adopted a constitutional required process for a particular outcome.
“That is why the law does not require anybody to stop performing his public duty merely because someone is aggrieved. This is because every public decision, step or action taken, there is someone who will be aggrieved about it, and you cannot base on that person’s grievances alone to stop performing your duty.
“The general jurisprudential understanding is that, it will be an injustice to the person who is aggrieved. That is why it is said that the public duty must continue until a court makes a definite order that it should stop. In this case, there is not court order stopping the process to suspend the Chief Justice,” he stated.
Suspension of Chief Justice unfortunate, potentially unconstitutional – Atta Akyea
