Perception of judges doing biding of their appointing authorities wrong — Justice Torkornoo

Chief Justice nominee, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has shot down claims that judges are not independent.

The nominee for Chief Justice position said the judges are not doing the bidding of those who appointed them.

During her vetting in the Parliament House in Accra on Friday, May 26, she told the Vetting Committee that the perceptions held by many, are inaccurate.

“It is a wrong perception that judges are doing the bidding of appointing authorities,” she said.

When given the mandate to serve as the Chief Justice of the nation’s Supreme Court, Justice Torkornoo said, she will only comply with the staff manual of the court.

“I will practice directions, manuals that the court staff have to comply with in time,” she stated.

The statement can be seen as an assurance from the Supreme Court Justice at a time when many citizens appear to lost trust in the judiciary.

Many allege that the President has been interfering in the work of the judiciary, hence his willingness to pack the system with his allies.

If approved by the Appointment Committee of Parliament, Justice Gertrude Torkonoo will replace immediate past Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah.