Supreme Court membership pegged at 15

The President of Ghana, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, has approved a recommendation of the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) to peg the membership of the Supreme Court at 15, according to The Ghanaian Times newspaper.

This means Article 128(1) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana would have to be amended to accommodate the new membership ceiling.

The state-owned newspaper quoted a government source to have said that a Government White Paper on the CRC report, “agreed that there was the need for ceiling on the appointments to the Supreme Court.”

According to the newspaper, the source said the cabinet’s decision would help to avoid the controversies that often characterised such appointments to the Supreme Court, especially when the number increased beyond nine.

Article 128 (1) of the Constitution states: “The Supreme Court shall consist of the Chief Justice and not less than nine other members of the Supreme Court.”

The Supreme Court of Ghana is the final court of appeal and has jurisdictions over matters relating to the enforcement or the interpretation of constitutional law.

Also, the source noted that the president has approved the scraping of the provision that require the President to appoint the majority of ministers from parliament.**