CITATION: [1995–96] 1 GLR 598
FACTS OF THE CASE:
In this case, President Jerry John Rawlings nominated Justice Isaac Kobina Abban, then a Justice of the Supreme Court, to be Chief Justice, following the impending retirement of Chief Justice P.E.N.K. Archer.
The President consulted the Council of State, and Parliament subsequently approved the nomination on 21 February 1995 under a certificate of urgency. Justice Abban was thereafter appointed Chief Justice.
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) challenged the appointment before the Supreme Court, arguing that Justice Abban did not satisfy the constitutional requirement of being a person of “high moral character and proven integrity” under Article 128(4) of the 1992 Constitution.
The GBA therefore asked the Supreme Court to declare the nomination, approval and appointment unconstitutional and to restrain Justice Abban from acting as Chief Justice.
The Attorney-General and Justice Abban raised a preliminary objection, arguing that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction because the President, Council of State, and Parliament were constitutionally entrusted with appointing the Chief Justice. They also argued that the matter involved a non-justiciable political question.
LEGAL ISSUES:
The main issue was whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to review and nullify the appointment of the Chief Justice on the ground that he did not meet the constitutional requirement of high moral character and proven integrity.
TO DECISION OF THE COURT:
The Supreme Court unanimously declined jurisdiction. The Court held that the appointment process was constitutionally entrusted to the President, Council of State and Parliament. The Court could not substitute its judgment for that of those constitutionally designated bodies.
The case is therefore associated with the political-question doctrine and separation of powers.
HOW DO YOU APPLY THIS PRINCIPLE?
This case reinforces the principle that not every constitutional or governmental decision is for the courts to determine.
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