The Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has dismissed an application filed by former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo seeking to temporarily halt the work of the fact-finding committee investigating a petition for her removal from office.
Justice Torkornoo had requested provisional measures to suspend the committee’s proceedings, arguing that allowing the inquiry to continue would cause irreparable harm to her rights while her substantive case challenging the process remained pending before the regional court.
However, in a ruling delivered on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, the ECOWAS Court held that the application failed to meet the legal threshold required for interim measures. The panel noted that Justice Torkornoo filed the application more than eight weeks after her suspension and over six weeks after the committee began its hearings delays the court said undermined the claim of urgency and imminent harm.
According to the ruling, “The Applicant’s own conduct defeats her claim of imminent and irreparable harm. The applicant has not demonstrated the existence of imminent or exceptional circumstance that will justify the urgency of the application filed almost three months after the act complained of.”
The court further stated that because the urgency requirement was not satisfied, there was “no basis to assess the remaining criteria for provisional measures,” which must be met cumulatively. It concluded that the request for interim relief was not substantiated and therefore dismissed.
The Attorney-General of Ghana has been given 30 days to file a response to the substantive case, in which Justice Torkornoo is challenging the legality of the removal petition and subsequent proceedings.
The fact-finding committee’s work will thus continue as scheduled pending determination of the main case.
