2022 Gender Statistics: 42.18% of Ghana’s Judges and Justices are females

Analysis of current Gender statistics of Ghana’s Judges in the various court structure has shown that about 42 percent are females while the rest are males.

This is not vastly different from last year’s figures but it somehow presents a marginal increase in the real statistics.

The above is based on the Judicial Service of Ghana’s 2022 Gender Analysis of Judges per court.

In all, there are 403 Justices and judges in Ghana compared to last year’s 397.

Out of the above, there are currently 170 female judges while the rest, 233 are males. Let’s now do a court-by-court analysis.

SUPREME COURT

The apex court still has 14 Justices. There have however been some concerns recently relative to the numbers in the wake of the impending retirement of Dordzie(JSC), Honyenuga(JSC), Dotse(JSC), and others.

Notwithstanding, it is expected that the recent nominees if approved, will join the court to normalize the numbers for its business.

COURT OF APPEAL

It currently has a total of 34 Justices which shows a slight increase over last year’s figure of 33. Divided further, the number shows 19 males and 15 females.

The only appointment which was done this year into the court was a male.

HIGH COURT

In the year under consideration, the High Court saw an increase in the number of female Justices. From last year’s figure of 53, the number of females now stands at 55.

On the other hand, the number of males reduced by one thus from last year’s 64 to 63 now which shows that there has been a male retirement this year from the court.

In all, the number of Justices stands at 118.

CIRCUIT COURT

Like the High Court, there has been an increase over last year’s numbers. Currently, the total number of Judges stands at 79 which is an increase of 2 over last year’s figure.

With regards to the Gender specifics, the female population remained the same but that of the males saw an increase of 2 which put them at 42 instead of last year’s 40.

DISTRICT COURT

Both Genders saw a marginal increase in their numbers at the District Court. The number of males now stands at 100 instead of last year’s 99.

In the same way, the female gender has increased by 1 which puts it at 58 instead of 57 last year.

The details show that 67 out of the total number are Senior Career Magistrates; 36 are Career Magistrates while the remaining 55 are Professional Magistrates.

According to Judge Vanessa Ruiz, a Senior Judge for the Court of Appeals in the US, women judges bring lived experiences to their judicial actions, experiences that tend toward a more comprehensive and empathetic perspective.

Therefore we can only hope for a better numerical appreciation of the gender gap especially on the side of female Justices and Judges in the coming year and beyond.