Introduction
On April 29, 2025, President John Dramani Mahama nominated seven new Justices to the Supreme Court of Ghana; however, the topic of whether or not to cap the number of Justices appointed to the Supreme Court has become a topic for public debate.
Despite concerns raised by the main opposition, all nominees were approved by the Parliament on June 24, 2025, after going through the vetting process.
This report will explain the constitutional procedures for the appointment of judges, removal, process, and how successive Presidents of the Republic have shaped the bench.
Composition of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is the highest and final court of appeal in Ghana’s judicial system. Supreme Court justices are appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Judicial Council, in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of Parliament, as outlined in Article 144 of the 1992 Constitution.
The Constitution sets no upper limit or cap on the number of apex court Justices. It only establishes a minimum of ten (the Chief Justice plus nine other justices).
According to Article 128 of the 1992 constitution;
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- The Supreme Court shall consist of the Chief Justice and not less than nine other Justices of the Supreme Court.
- The Supreme Court shall be duly constituted for its work by not less than five Supreme Court Justices, except as otherwise provided in article 133 of this Constitution (which states that “(1)The Supreme Court may review any decision made or given by it on such grounds and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by rules of court. (2)The Supreme Court, when reviewing its decisions under this article, shall be constituted by not less than seven Justices of the Supreme Court.)
- The Chief Justice shall preside at sittings of the Supreme Court and in their absence, the most senior of the Justices of the Supreme Court, as constituted, shall preside.
- A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court unless he is of high moral character and proven integrity and is of not less than fifteen years’ standing as a lawyer.
Grounds for removal of a Supreme Court Justice
Under Article 146 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, a Supreme Court Justice can only be removed for stated misbehaviour, incompetence, or inability to perform duties due to infirmity of body or mind.
The removal process begins with a petition to the President, who refers it to the Chief Justice to determine if a prima facie case exists. If so, a five-member committee is formed to investigate and submit a recommendation to the President through the Chief Justice.
Read more from our previously published report.
Mills’ Constitution Review Commission on the composition of the Supreme Court
The Constitution Review Commission, established under former President John Evans Atta Mills and chaired by Professor Albert Kodzo Fiadjoe, proposed that a ceiling should be placed on the number of Justices appointed to the Supreme Court.
In its final report, presented to President Atta Mills on December 20, 2011, the Commission outlined two opposing views gathered from a wide range of stakeholders’ submissions:
One group argued that imposing a ceiling on the number of Justices was unnecessary and would not significantly reduce perceptions of Executive influence over the Judiciary, cautioning that a fixed number could overburden the court, slowing down the delivery of justice.
Instead of a constitutional limit, they recommended allowing a convention to evolve regarding the court’s composition.
While the other group called for a clear cap on the number of Supreme Court Justices, suggesting figures ranged from 9 to 25 and argued that a lack of limits could lead to manipulation in the court by the Executive.
They argued that capping the court would align Ghana with international best practices found in other democracies and help safeguard judicial independence.
In response, the Government, in its White Paper, accepted the recommendation to amend Article 128 (1) of the Constitution to establish a maximum of 15 Justices at the Supreme Court:
“Composition of the Supreme Court: Government accepts the recommendation that Article 128(1) be amended to provide for a maximum of 15 Justices, and it should remain non-entrenched.”
Former CJs, legal giants on capping the number of Supreme Court Justices
Meanwhile, the former Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah and his predecessor, Sophia Akufo, in December 2022, opposed the idea of capping the number of Supreme Court justices.
At an Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) stakeholder engagement on constitutional review on December 6, 2022, Sophia Akuffo stated that a cap would hinder the court’s ability to handle workload and administer justice effectively.
“This open door to the Supreme Court leads to unnecessary caseloads, and it slows down the pace of cases, making it difficult to say cap the number of judges at the Supreme Court. I do not think capping is necessary because the scope of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is too broad, and we need to take a look at it.
“I am not in a position to say the Constitution should now cap the number, but if you want to cap, then we need to also reduce access to the Supreme Court, and then we will have something that will be quality-based rather than quantity-based,” she said.
Justice Anin Yeboah also expressed similar concerns and said, “So when people start talking about capping the number of judges at the Supreme Court, with all apologies, some of them may not know the nature of the jurisdiction of the court, and it is a cause for worry.”
However, not all agree with the stance of the former Chief Justices.
The Executive Director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Henry Kwasi Prempeh (now the Chairman of the Constitutional Review Consultative Committee), on December 8, 2022, criticised the opposition to capping the number of Supreme Court Justices.
“Just as a person with a distant deadline will take as much time as they have on their hands to do the same work they could complete on a tight deadline, so, too, with the number of Justices on the Court. More judges on the Court will not necessarily make the Court more efficient.
“You only have to watch and compare the proceedings of the Ghana and Kenyan Supreme Courts in their handling of their respective presidential election petitions in 2013 and 2021 to see that the disparity in the efficiencies of the two courts is not a simple matter of court size,” he said.
“Indeed the appropriate focus or consideration, when it comes to whether or not to cap the size of Supreme Court, is not whether or not it makes the judges’ job easier or workload lightier, it is whether or not it enhances or diminishes the people’s confidence in the independence and impartiality of the Court.” he further stated.
On April 30, 2025, following President Mahama’s appointment of justices to the Supreme Court, Stephen Kwaku Asare (Kwaku Azar) of CDD-Ghana, in a Facebook post, strongly criticised the expansion of the Supreme Court Justices and said, “We do not need a bloated bench. We need a credible, well-resourced, and independent SC.”
Appointments under each President in the Fourth Republic
Since the beginning of Ghana’s Fourth Republic in 1993, the number of Supreme Court Justices appointed by each president has varied. Jerry John Rawlings, who led the country from 1993 to 2001, appointed a total of 11 justices to the Supreme Court.
John Agyekum Kufuor, serving two terms from 2001 to 2009, appointed 17 judges to the Supreme Court, while John Evans Atta Mills, who served from 2009 until his passing in 2012, appointed 3 justices during his tenure.
John Dramani Mahama, in his first term from 2012 to 2017, appointed 4 justices to the Supreme Court.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who served from 2017 to 2025, appointed 18 justices to the SC, which is the highest number of appointments.
Finally, in his second term beginning in January 2025, President Mahama has so far appointed 7 Justices to the Supreme Court, as of June 2025.
| Presidents | List of appointed SC justices | Total number |
| Jerry John Rawlings1993- 2001 | Francis Yaonasu KpegahAlexander Kobina Baah AmpiahElliot Divine Kwami AdjabengGeorge Kingsley AcquahSophia Abena Boafoah AkuffoIsaac K AmoahWilliam Anaam AtugubaJohn Debra SarpongJosiah Ofori Boateng10. Theodore Kwami Adzoe11. George Lantei Lamptey | 11 |
| John Agyekum Kufuor2001- 2009 | Dixon Kwame AfrehGeorgina WoodSamuel Glenn BaddooStephen Alan BrobbeySeth TwumAnselmus Kodzo Paaku KludzieSamuel Kofi Date-BahTawiah Modibo OcranRichard AninakwahJulius AnsahFelix Michael LarteySophia Ophelia Adjeibea AdinyiraSamuel Kwadwo AsiamahPaul Kwadwo Baffoe-BonnieAnin YeboahJones DotseRose Constance Owusu | 17 |
| John Evans Atta Mills2009- 2012 | Vida Akoto-BamfoBenjamin Teiko AryeeteyNasiru Sulemana Gbadegbe | 3 |
| John Dramani Mahama (Term 1)2012 – 2017 | Joseph Bawa AkambaAnthony BenninYaw AppauGabriel Pwamang | 4 |
| Nana Akufo-Addo 2017- 2025 | Agnes M.A. DordzieNene Abayateye Ofoe Amegatcher Prof. Nii Ashie KoteyMariama OwusuAvril Lovelace JohnsonGertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey TorkornooClemence Jackson HonyenugaIssifu Omoro Tanko Amadu Prof. Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa-Bonsu Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi.Samuel Marful-Sau Barbara Frances Ackah-YensuSamuel Kwame Adibu AsieduGeorge Kingsley KoomsonErnest GaewuHenry Anthony KwofieYaw Darko Asare.Richard Adjei- Frimpong | 18 |
| John Dramani Mahama (Term 2)2025- date | Sir Dennis Dominic AdjeiGbiel Simon SuurbaarehSenyo DzamefeKweku Tawiah Ackaah-BoafoPhilip Bright MensahJanapare Bartels-KodwoHafisata Ameleboba | 7 |
By Nusrat Essah
