I will not say the Supreme Court is being packed - SC nominee

Responding to a question during his vetting by Parliament's Appointments Committee, he said, considering the workload of the court and its jurisdiction, he will suggest membership of 21.

Is allowance instantly strangers applauded

Supreme Court nominee, Justice Samuel Adibu Asiedu has stated that he does not think the Supreme Court is being packed with too many judges.

Responding to a question during his vetting by Parliament's Appointments Committee, he said, considering the workload of the court and its jurisdiction, he will suggest membership of 21.

"Now, the membership of the SC cannot be looked at in isolation. It must be looked at vis-a-vis its
jurisdiction, and the workload. We are in a country where any case, notwithstanding where it started, from the district court or circuit court, can end up in the supreme court. And so I will not say that it is being packed," he said.

The Constitutional Review Commission chaired by Professor Albert Fiadjoe recommended that the number of justices at the Supreme Court should be 15.

Recently also the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) joined calls for a ceiling to be placed on the number of Supreme Court justices that the country can have.

"The way the constitution is now if we do not put a ceiling on it, it will not help us," Saviour Kudze, the GBA PRO was quoted as saying.

But explaining further, Justice said to increase the number of Judges remains important for the creation of the court's panels.

"Though I have not been there,  the SC sits primarily with 5 judges. So as we speak, they have only two sets of 5 and then you have two surpluses. So assuming that there are even
two constitutional matters pending at the same time, they cannot even have the membership to sit."

"So these are the indices that we should look at when we are talking about a cap. If you ask for my view, I will tell you that membership of 21 should be okay."