ECOWAS court allows Torkornoo to amend case, include removal from office

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has allowed Ghana’s former Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, to amend her legal challenge so it now covers her removal from office, alongside her earlier complaint about suspension.

The ruling followed arguments from both sides at a hearing on Friday, 30 January 2026. The court said the changes would help avoid multiple cases being filed over the same set of facts, keeping the dispute on a single litigation track.

Justice Torkornoo first filed the suit on 4 July 2025, arguing that her suspension on 22 April 2025 breached her rights under regional and international human-rights instruments. She is seeking, among other remedies, ten million dollars in damages.

Her legal team, led by Femi Falana, told the court the amendment was needed because the situation had shifted since the original filing, moving from a suspension process to a dismissal. They argued it would be more efficient and commercially sensible, in governance terms, for all issues to be determined in one consolidated action.

The Ghana government opposed the request. The Deputy Attorney-General, Justice Srem-Sai, argued that under Ghana’s constitutional framework, removal as Chief Justice automatically ends membership of the superior courts, including the Supreme Court of Ghana, and so the proposed additions were unnecessary.

In granting the application, the regional court said the amended issues flowed from the same circumstances as the original case. It also noted that the state is entitled to file an amended defence within the timeframe set by the court’s rules.

The case is expected to move to a substantive hearing once the amended defence is filed, after earlier interim requests by Justice Torkornoo to pause the removal process were rejected.