Former Deputy Energy Minister and legal practitioner, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has supported the Ghana Bar Association’s (GBA) demand for President John Mahama to publish regulations governing the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
He has described the current action as unconstitutional.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, the NPP member argued that the President’s failure to establish clear rules before suspending the Chief Justice violates Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution.
Mr Mercer stressed that the constitutional requirement for published regulations is not optional.
“It’s a mandatory provision. And I’m saying that it is not covered under the normal administrative actions contemplated in Ransford France [a reference to a legal precedent]. This is unique. It requires rules to be established,” he stated.
At its Mid-Year Conference in Accra, the GBA passed resolutions declaring the suspension procedurally flawed.
“The President exercised discretionary powers under Article 146(10) without the required Constitutional Instrument or published regulations as mandated by Article 296. This omission renders the suspension unlawful,” the April 26 statement read.
The GBA explicitly agreed.
“The President has not done so and has breached Article 296 of the Constitution. He ought to reverse that breach,” he said on JoyNews.
Mr Mercer’s comments align with the GBA’s April 26 resolution, which declared President Mahama’s suspension of the Chief Justice “procedurally flawed and unlawful” due to the absence of published regulations.
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