Parliament today [Monday], approved the nomination of Justice Sophia Akuffo for the position of Chief Justice of Ghana. She becomes the 13th Chief Justice in the position, and the second female after the immediate past Chief Justice, Georgina Wood.
The approval followed the favourable recommendation of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, after she was screened by members of the committee last Friday.
Presenting the report of the committee, 1st Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei Wusu, said the committee approved Sophia Akuffo’s nomination unanimously because she exhibited the competence required for the fourth highest position in the country.
He said Sophia Akuffo during the vetting showed a high standard of “competence and integrity, forthrightness and independence, astuteness in depth appreciation of the law, shrewdness and selflessness.”
The over five-hour long vetting process saw Justice Sophia Akuffo answer questions on the challenges within the country’s legal system, the regulations on touting, the status and relevance of the Ghana Law School, practice of mob justice, external interference of the judiciary among others.
She is expected to be sworn into office by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo later in the day.
12 things you didn’t know about Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo
* Sophia Akuffo had her Masters in Law (LLM) from the Harvard University in the United States
* She is the second senior most Justice on the Supreme Court bench after Justice William Atuguba
* She trained as a lawyer in Nana Akufo-Addo’s chambers
* She has been a member of the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, and the Chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Task-Force.
* In January 2006, she was elected one of the first judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights initially elected for two years; and was subsequently re-elected until 2014, and is at present serving as Vice-President of the Court.
* She has written a paper on “The Application of Information & Communication Technology in the Judicial Process – the Ghanaian Experience,” and presented it to the African Judicial Network Ghana (2002)
* She presided over the infamous Montie three case in 2016
* Sophia A.B. Akuffo has been a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ghana for the past two decades
* If confirmed by parliament, Justice Sophia Akuffo will be the fifth Chief Justice under the fourth republic
* She will also be the 13th Chief Justice in the history of the Republic of Ghana.
* She was appointed to the Supreme Court by Jerry John Rawlings on 30th November 1995.
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