Some social media users (here, here, and here) claimed the NDC could remove Supreme Court justices when it secures a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Provisional results point to an outright win for John Dramani Mahama, the 2024 National Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential candidate, in the just-ended election.
Also, unconfirmed results from the 276 constituencies predict that the opposition NDC is on its way to commanding a majority in the 9th Parliament. If the NDC secures at least 184 Members of Parliament (MPs) out of the 276 available seats, the party would have a two-thirds majority in the House.
Grounds for removal of SC justices
The removal of Supreme Court justices is guided by Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
The law provides that a Supreme Court justice can only be removed on “stated misbehaviour or incompetence or on ground of inability to perform the functions of his office arising from infirmity of Body or mind.”
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Clause (2) of Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution states that if the President wants to remove a Supreme Court justice, it must be done according to the procedure provided in the law.
Procedure for removal of SC justices
The starting point for removing a Supreme Court justice is submitting a petition to the President, who shall, in turn, forward it to the Chief Justice to determine whether there is any basis for the removal. The law provides that the Chief Justice would have to weigh if the petition establishes a “prima facie case” to warrant consideration.
A prima facie is a Latin expression that means “at a glance” whether or not a piece of evidence is true.
When the Chief Justice establishes that the petition is worth considering, she will set up a five-member committee consisting of three Supreme Court judges appointed by the Judicial Council and two other persons appointed by the Chief Justice on the advice of the Council of State. The law provides that the two other members of the Committee should neither be members of the Council of State nor MPs.
According to Clause (5) of Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, the work of the Committee is to investigate the complaint contained in the petition and make recommendations to the Chief Justice for onward submission to the President.
Recommendation of the five-member Committee
The President is required under clause (7) of Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution to “act in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee.”
However, during the investigation period, the President can suspend the justice being investigated and revoke the suspension upon concluding the Committee’s work.
Conclusion:
As the social media users alleged, the removal of Supreme Court justices has nothing to do with a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
