The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice has granted the Attorney-General’s office an extension of time to regularise its defence filed out of time in the human rights suit brought by former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
The court admitted the state’s response despite it being filed after the deadline and also gave Justice Torkornoo seven days to file her reply to the amended defence.
Justice Torkornoo initially dragged the Republic of Ghana before the regional court, alleging that the Article 146 proceedings leading to her suspension as Chief Justice violated her fundamental human rights.
Following her eventual removal from office, she amended her application to also challenge the dismissal. The ECOWAS Court permitted the amendment, over objections from the Attorney-General, and ordered the state to file its defence within 30 days. That deadline expired on March 1, 2026.
The Attorney-General, represented by Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai, however, filed the defence late together with an application seeking the court’s discretion to admit it.
Counsel for Justice Torkornoo argued that the filing was out of time and that no proper application for extension had been made, urging the court to strike it out.
Dr Srem-Sai countered that the state had not been formally served with the court’s directive and only became aware of the timeline upon receiving the hearing notice. He explained that the defence was filed promptly once the order came to their attention, despite the intervening public holiday, and appealed to the court to exercise its discretion in the interest of justice.
The court, however, questioned the claim of lack of service, noting that under common law practice, counsel present in court when an order is delivered are deemed to have notice of it. It added that the proper procedure would have been to file a formal application for extension of time.
Lawyers for the former Chief Justice maintained that the directive was issued in the presence of representatives of the Attorney-General’s Department, making the claim of non-service untenable.
They, however, did not oppose the oral request for extension but asked for leave to file a response if the application was granted.
In its ruling, the ECOWAS Court granted the extension, admitted the state’s amended defence, and directed Justice Torkornoo to file her reply within seven days.