List of justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana

This is a list of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ghana. The Constitution of Ghana provides for the court to be made up of the Chief Justice of Ghana and not less than nine other Justices of the Supreme Court. It shall be duly constituted by at least five Supreme Court judges.^[1]

Appointment of judges

Article 144 clause 1 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana stipulates that the Chief Justice of Ghana is to be appointed by the President of Ghana acting in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of the Parliament of Ghana. Article 144 clause 2 states that Justices of the Supreme court are appointed on the advice of the Judicial Council in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of Parliament. Where the position of Chief Justice is vacant or where the holder of the position is unable to perform their duties for a period, the most senior member of the Supreme Court shall act as Chief Justice as in clause 6 of Article 144.^[2] In May 2020, President Akufo-Addo appointed four additional judges to the Supreme Court.^[3]

Retirement or removal from office

According to Article 145 clause 4 of the constitution, a Supreme Court Judge is expected to vacate their office on reaching the age of seventy years. They can carry on up to an additional six months to ensure that they are able to complete any proceedings they may have been involved in at that stage.^[4] The judges are guaranteed job security. Article 146 states the conditions for their removal as "except for stated misbehaviour or incompetence or on ground of inability to perform the functions of his office arising from infirmity of body or mind." The procedure for this has also been clearly stated in the constitution.^[2]

List of judges of the Supreme Court

#	Served from	Name	Previous judicial office	Appointed by	Served until	Notes
1	1960	Kobina Arku Korsah	Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court	Kwame Nkrumah	December 1963	Chief Justice of Ghana 1957–1963 Dismissed by Kwame Nkrumah[5]
2	1960	William Van Lare	Appeal Court Judge 1957		December 1963	Retired when Supreme Court acquitted Tawia Adamafio and others on treason charges
3	1960	Gilbert Granville Sharp	Appeal Court Judge		1961
4	1960	Julius Sarkodee-Addo[6]	High Court Judge		February 1966	Chief Justice 1964–1966 Removed after coup d'état
5	July 1960[7]	Augustus Molade Akiwumi[8]	Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana (1958–1960)		1961	Speaker of Parliament of Ghana
6	15 September 1961[9]	Samuel Azu Crabbe	High Court Judge 1959		1966	Supreme Court was replaced by the Appeals Court in 1966
6	1971[10]		Appeal Court Judge	Edward Akufo-Addo	1972	Supreme Court replaced by the Appeals Court in 1972 Chief Justice 1973–1977
7	15 September 1961[9]	Kofi Adumua Bossman	High Court Judge 2 July 1956 – 1962	Kwame Nkrumah	2 March 1964	Dismissed 2 March 1964 by Nkrumah[11] Member of Constitutional Commission 1966–1967
8	1 September 1962[12]	George Commey Mills-Odoi	High Court Judge Jan 1960 Attorney General 1961–1962		February 1966	Acting Chief Justice (1965)[13][14]
9	1 September 1962[12][15]	Nii Amaa Ollennu	High Court Judge		1966	Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana 1969–1972
10	1 September 1962[12]	Robert Samuel Blay	Private legal practitioner		2 March 1964	Dismissed 2 March 1964 by Nkrumah[11]
11	1 September 1962[12]	Edward Akufo-Addo	Private legal practitioner	Kwame Nkrumah	March 1964	Dismissed 2 March 1964 by Nkrumah.[11] Reinstated by the NLC as an Appeals Court judge. Chief Justice (1966–1970)
12	2 March 1964[16][17]	Charles Acolatse	High Court Judge		1965
13	2 March 1964[16][17]	Alfred Akainyah	High Court Judge		7 June 1966
14	2 March 1964[16][18][17]	Fred Apaloo	High Court Judge		1966	Supreme Court replaced by Appeals Court
14	1971[10]		Appeal Court Judge	Edward Akufo-Addo	1972	Supreme Court replaced by Appeals Court
14	1980		Appeal Court Judge	Hilla Limann	1986	Chief Justice of Ghana 1977–1986 Chief Justice of Kenya 1993–1995
15	26 June 1964[19]	William Bruce-Lyle	High Court Judge	Kwame Nkrumah	7 June 1966	Supreme Court Judge in Zambia 1976–1980.[20]
16	26 June 1964[19]	Johnson Boateng Siriboe[21]	High Court Judge		1966	Supreme Court was replaced by the Appeals Court in 1966 by the National Liberation Council
16	August 1970		Appeal Court Judge	Edward Akufo-Addo	1972[22]	Dismissed by NRC Military government.
17	1965	G. S. Lassey	High Court Judge	Kwame Nkrumah	1966	Supreme Court replaced by the Appeals Court by the then NLC government.
18	August 1970[23]	E. A. L. Bannerman	Legal adviser to Ghana Police and Ghana Airways (1967–70)	Edward Akufo-Addo	20 September 1972[22]	Chief Justice 1970–1972 Sacked by NRC Military government.
19	August 1970[23]	V. C. R. A. C. Crabbe[21]	Interim Electoral Commissioner		1972
19	24 October 1980[24]		Appeal Court Judge		1981
20	August 1970[23]	Koi Larbi[25]	Member of the Council of State		1972[22]	Sacked by NRC Military government.
21	1971	Kwamena Bentsi-Enchill	Dean of the Faculty of law, University of Zambia		30 September 1972[26]
22	1971[10]	H. K. Prempeh	High Court Judge (1960–1964) Private legal practitioner		1972
23	1971[10]	P. D. Anin	Appeal Court Judge (1969–1970)		1972	Supreme Court replaced by Appeals Court
23	24 October 1980[24][27]		Appeal Court Judge (1972–1980)	Hilla Limann	July 1982[28]	Retired voluntarily in July 1982 Later became a justice of the Appeal Court of the Gambia
24	24 October 1980[27]	N. Y. B. Adade[29]	Attorney General 1969–1971		20 February 1996	Acting Chief Justice (1990 to 1991)[30][31]
25	24 October 1980[24][27]	Philip Archer[32]	Appeal Court judge		1983	Retired in 1983
25	1991		Appointed Chairman of the Law Reform Commission following his retirement as a Supreme Court judge, was called out of retirement in 1991 to serve as Chief Justice of Ghana	Jerry Rawlings	21 February 1995	Chief of Justice 1991–1995
26	24 October 1980[24][27]	E. N. P. Sowah	Appeal Court Judge	Hilla Limann	1990[33]	Chief Justice of Ghana 1986–1990
27	24 October 1980[27]	J. N. K. Taylor[34]	High Court Judge		24 March 1990[35]
28	September 1985[36][37][38]	G. R. M. Francois[39]	Appeal Court Judge	Jerry Rawlings	5 August 1994
29	1988[40][41]	Isaac Wuaku[42]	Appeal Court Judge		29 December 1992
30	1988[40][41]	Kweku Etrew Amua-Sekyi[43]	Appeal Court Judge		5 July 1996[44][45][46]
31	1988[40][41]	Isaac K. Abban	Appeal Court Judge		21 April 2001[47]	Chief Justice of Seychelles 1990–1993 Chief Justice of Ghana. Died in office.
32	1989	Patrick Victor Osei-Hwere	Appeal Court Judge		19 October 1992[48]
33	20 February 1990[49][50]	G. E. K. Aikins	Attorney General of Ghana		2 September 1998[51]
34	1990	Edward Wiredu[52]	Appeals Court Judge		2003	Chief Justice of Ghana 2001–2003
35	19 November 1991[53]	Joyce Bamford-Addo	Director of Public Prosecutions 2nd Deputy Speaker of the Consultative Assembly		October 2004[54]	First female justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana[55] and first female Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana
36	19 November 1991[56]	Charles Hayfron-Benjamin	Private legal practice		4 April 1999
37	6 January 1993[57]	Francis Kpegah	Appeal Court Judge		4 December 2008[58]	Acting Chief Justice (25 March 2007 to15 June 2007)[59]
38	6 January 1993	A. K. B. Ampiah[60]	Appeal Court Judge		25 July 2003
39	22 February 1995	E. D. K. Adjabeng[60]	Appeal Court Judge		October 2002	Resigned in October 2002 on personal grounds
40	30 November 1995	George Kingsley Acquah[61]	Appeals Court Judge		25 March 2007	Chief Justice of Ghana. Died in office.
41	30 November 1995	Sophia Akuffo	Private legal practitioner		20 December 2019	Chief Justice (2017–2019)
42	30 November 1995[62]	Isaac K. Amuah	Appeal Court Judge		19 August 1997	Died in office[63]
43	30 November 1995	William Atuguba	State attorney		1 July 2018	Acting Chief Justice (21 February 2017 to 19 June 2017) 23 years in Supreme Court
44	15 April 1999	John Debra Sapong[64]	Appeal Court Judge		2 June 2000
45	15 April 1999	Josiah Ofori Boateng[64]	Appeal Court Judge		4 January 2001
46	28 November 2000[65]	Theodore Adzoe[66]	Private legal practitioner		31 October 2008
47	28 November 2000[65][67]	George Lamptey	Appeal Court Judge		3 June 2002
48	19 March 2002[68]	Kwame Afreh	Appeal Court Judge	John Kufuor	September 2003[69]
49	12 November 2002[70]	Georgina Wood	Appeal Court Judge 1991–2002		7 June 2017	Chief Justice 2007–2017
50	12 November 2002[70]	Samuel Glenn Baddoo	Appeal Court Judge		3 March 2004
51	12 November 2002[70]	Stephen Alan Brobbey	Appeal Court Judge		23 May 2012
52	12 November 2002[70]	Seth Twum	Private legal practitioner		20 March 2007
53	21 May 2003[71][72]	Anselmus Kludze[73]	Professor of Law at the University of Ghana		12 March 2004[72]
54	16 September 2003[74][75]	Samuel Date-Bah	Special Adviser (Legal) at the Commonwealth Secretariat, London		August 2014
55	14 May 2004[76]	Tawia Modibo Ocran	Professor of Law at the University of Ghana		27 October 2008[77]	Died in office
56	15 October 2004[78]	Richard Aninakwah[79]	Appeal Court Judge		28 January 2008
57	15 October 2004[78]	Julius Ansah[79]	Appeal Court Judge		2020	Acting Chief Justice (20 December 2019 to 7 January 2020)[80]
58	15 October 2004[78]	Felix Lartey[79]	Chief Justice of the Gambia		April 2005
59	15 March 2006[81]	Sophia Adinyira	Appeal Court Judge		30 July 2019[82]	Judge on United Nations Appeals Tribunal 2009–2016
60	15 March 2006[83]	Samuel Kwadwo Asiamah	Appeal Court Judge		2009
61	11 June 2008[84]	Anin Yeboah	Justice of the Court of Appeal (2003–2008)		24 May 2023[85]	Chief Justice (7 January 2020 to 24 May 2023)[86][87]
62	11 June 2008[84]	Jones Dotse	Appeal Court Judge Supreme Court Judge in the Gambia		8 June 2023[88]	Acting Chief Justice (24 May 2023 to 8 June 2023)[85]
63	11 June 2008[84]	Paul Baffoe-Bonnie	Appeal Court Judge		Incumbent
64	11 June 2008[84]	Rose Constance Owusu	Appeal Court Judge		June 2014[89]
65	31 October 2009[90]	Vida Akoto-Bamfo	Appeal Court Judge	John Atta Mills	14 February 2019[91]
66	31 October 2009[90]	Benjamin Aryeetey	Appeal Court Judge		2011
67	31 October 2009[90]	Nasiru Gbadegbe	Appeal Court Judge		8 December 2020[92][93]
68	11 November 2012[94]	Joseph Akamba	Appeal Court Judge	John Mahama	2016
69	11 November 2012[94]	Anthony Benin	Appeal Court Judge		January 2020[95][96]
70	29 June 2015[97]	Yaw Appau	Appeal Court Judge		August 2021
71	29 June 2015[97]	Gabriel Pwamang	Private legal practitioner		Incumbent
72	3 October 2018[98]	Nene Amegatcher	Private legal practitioner	Nana Akufo-Addo	28 July 2023[99]	President of the Ghana Bar Association (2012–2016)
73	3 October 2018[98]	Agnes Dordzie	Appeal Court Judge		2 October 2022[100]
74	3 October 2018[98]	Nii Ashie Kotey	Professor of Law at the University of Ghana		28 July 2023[99]
75	3 October 2018[98]	Samuel Marful-Sau	Appeal Court Judge		10 August 2021	Died in office[101]
76	17 December 2019[102][103]	Mariama Owusu[104]	Appeal Court Judge		November 2024	President of Ghana chapter, International Association of Women Judges, 2014
77	17 December 2019[102][103]	Avril Lovelace-Johnson[104]	Appeal Court Judge		Incumbent
78	17 December 2019[102][103]	Gertrude Tokornoo[104]	Appeal Court Judge		Incumbent	Vice-chair, e-Justice Committee Judicial Training Institute Board member Chief Justice (Appointed on 12 June 2023)[105]
79	22 May 2020[106]	Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu[107]	Appeal Court Judge[96]		Incumbent
80	22 May 2020[108]	Clemence Jackson Honyenuga[107]	Appeal Court Judge[96]		4 September 2022[100]	Although officially retired on 4 September 2022, he was granted some time by the Chief Justice (Anin Yeboah) to conclude a pending case.[109] He was removed from the case in February 2023.[110]
81	26 May 2020[3]	Joy Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu	Professor of Law at the University of Ghana[96]		Incumbent
82	26 May 2020[3]	Yonny Kulendi[107]	Private legal practitioner[96]		Incumbent
83	28 December 2022[111][112]	Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu	Appeal Court Judge[113]		Incumbent
84	28 December 2022[111][112]	Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu	Appeal Court Judge[113]		Incumbent
85	5 April 2023[100]	George Kingsley Koomson	Appeal Court Judge		Incumbent
86	5 April 2023[100]	Ernest Gaewu	High Court Judge		Incumbent
87	3 January 2024	Henry Anthony Kwofie	Appeal Court Judge		Incumbent
88	3 January 2024	Yaw Darko Asare	Appeal Court Judge		Incumbent
89	3 January 2024	Richard Adjei-Frimpong	Appeal Court Judge		Incumbent

See also

• Constitution of Ghana
• Judiciary of Ghana
• Supreme Court of Ghana