The Supreme Court was established by the Supreme Court Ordinance as the highest tribunal in the Gold Coast during the colonial era. Appeals from the Supreme Court went to the West African Court of Appeals established in 1866. Ghana withdrew from WACA following independence. After the military coup d'état of February 24, 1966, the National Liberation Council, by the Courts Decree, 1966 abolished the Supreme Court and vested judicial power in two sets of courts: the Superior Court of Judicature and the inferior Courts. This was reversed by Article 102 of the 1969 constitution establishing the second republic. After the coup on January 13, 1972, the Supreme Court was again abolished by the National Redemption Council with the reason that the 1969 constitution had been suspended and so there was no need for a court to "interpret and enforce it". Its functions were transferred to the Court of Appeal. This was again reverted by the 1979 constitution when the third republic was established on September 24, 1979. The Supreme Court was left intact after the December 31, 1981 coup by the Provisional National Defence Council, though it made changes to the court system by introducing public tribunals. On July 2, 2013 the Supreme Court sentenced the editor-in-chief of the Daily Searchlight newspaper, Ken Kuranchie, to 10 days in prison for calling the 9 Justices hypocritical and selective.
Current status
The 1992 constitution stipulates that the Supreme court is made up of the Chief Justice and not less than nine other Justices of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President of Ghana acting in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of the country's Parliament. The other Supreme Court Justices are appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Judicial Council and in consultation with the Council of State. This must also be with the approval of Parliament. The 1992 Constitution abolished all the public tribunals established under the PNDC and created the Regional Tribunal whose chairman was equated with the High Court judge.
Justices of the Supreme Court
The following is a list of the judges of the Supreme Court. In July 2018, President Nana Akufo-Addo appointed four new judges to the Supreme Court. They were Samuel K. Marful-Sau and Agnes M.A Dordzie, both Justices of the Appeal Court, Nii Ashie Kotey, a former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana and Nene A. O. Amegatcher, a lawyer in private practice who also a former president of the Ghana Bar Association. One of the longest serving judges of the Court, William Atuguba retired in the same month. He had been on the Supreme Court after being nominated by Jerry Rawlings in November 1995 until July 2018. The last female Chief Justice was Sophia Akuffo. She was the last Supreme Court Judge appointed by Jerry Rawlings to retire. She retired on 20 December 2019 and was replaced by Kwasi Anin-Yeboah on 7 January 2020. In December 2019, President Akufo-Addo appointed three new judges to the Supreme Court. They were Mariama Owusu, Lovelace Johnson and Gertrude Tokornoo. They are to replace Sophia Adinyira, Vida Akoto-Bamfo and Sophia Akuffo who have either retired or are due to retire.
