Vetting: Sir Dennis Adjei rejects calls for Chief Justice to be included in presidential succession

Supreme Court nominee Sir Dennis Dominic Adjei has firmly rejected any suggestion that Ghana’s Chief Justice should be included in the country’s presidential line of succession, warning that doing so would breach constitutional principles and blur the separation of powers.

Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, June 16, 2025, Sir Dennis argued that the framers of the 1992 Constitution intentionally limited succession to just three offices—the President, Vice President, and Speaker of Parliament—to ensure a clear, lawful, and stable transition of executive authority.

“It’s not advisable to use the Chief Justice to exercise executive powers, it’s not advisable. It could be a bad practice,” he said. “Why would you involve a Chief Justice whose role is the resolution of disputes? Which is different from the role of the executive? It will violate every principle of the rule of law. When we talk about the absence of the President, there is something in interpretation, which we call capping legitimacy—meaning that whenever you are interpreting or wherever you are providing events, it should end somewhere."

He continued, “If you look at the intention of the lawmaker or the purpose of the law at any point in time, one of the three [President, Vice President, and Speaker of Parliament] must be in Ghana. You cannot extend it to the Chief Justice, because the law does not say so.”

Sir Dennis warned that any attempt to empower the Chief Justice to act as President would create constitutional confusion and undermine public trust in the judiciary, whose primary role is to interpret laws—not to exercise executive power.

His comments follow recent debate over a perceived constitutional vacuum when all three top government officials are simultaneously out of the country, a situation that stirred controversy earlier this year.