Gertrude Torkornoo

Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo (born on 11 September 1962) is a Ghanaian judge.

She was born on 11 September 1962 in Cape Coast to Abraham Kofi Sackey and Comfort Aba Sackey, who were both teachers at the time.

She is the second of five siblings.

She attended Suhum Presby Primary School in 1966 and continued to Ajumako Catholic School in 1969, where she completed her primary education.

From 1969 to 1973, she continued at Ajumako Methodist School prior to entering Wesley Girls' High School in 1973 where she obtained her ordinary level certificate in 1978.

She continued at Achimota School from 1978 to 1980 for her advanced level certificate.

She gained a B. A. in Law and Sociology at University of Ghana in 1984 and graduated from the Ghana School of Law in 1986.

The appointments were subject to the approval of Parliament, following the constitutional procedures outlined in Article 144 of the 1992 Constitution.

Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, along with Justice Mariama Owusu and Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, underwent the vetting process before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, December 10.

During her vetting, Justice Torkonoo discussed various aspects of the judicial system, highlighting the introduction of the Electronic Justice (E-Justice) System as a significant reform aimed at enhancing the administration of justice.

She emphasised the importance of consolidating existing reforms before implementing further changes.

Justice Torkonoo also informed the committee about the judiciary's deployment of a monitoring and evaluation software and stressed the need for cultural and attitudinal changes in court proceedings to drive transformative improvements.

She advocated for the establishment of restrictive timelines for certain court processes to prevent abuse by litigants.

She returned to the firm (Fugar & Co.) in 1994 to become a director.

In 2001 she obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in International Law and Organization from the International Institute of Social Studies, which is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

In January 1997, she co-founded Sozo Law Consult where she worked as Managing Partner until 14 May 2004 when she was appointed a Justice of the High Court of Ghana.

In 2011, she graduated from Golden Gate University School of Law, in USA with a Master Of Laws (LLM) in Intellectual Property Law.

Prior to joining Fugar & Co., a law firm in Accra as an associate, Justice Torkornoo worked as a volunteer at the FIDA Legal Aid Service and did an internship with Nabarro Nathanson in London.

She worked as a High Court judge until October 2012 when she was elevated to the Court of Appeal.

Justice Torkornoo served as member of the faculty and Governing Board of the Judicial Training Institute, vice chair of the Internship and Clerkship Committee of the Judiciary since 2012, member and chair of the E-Judgment Committee since 2010, member and chair of the Publications and Editorial Committee of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana since 2006.

She also served as the Supervising Judge of commercial courts since 2013 where she set the agenda for and chaired the meetings and programs of the Users Committee of the Commercial Courts.

Justice Torkornoo presided over the implementation of the Business Environment Engineering Project (BEEP) funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom.

Her leadership directions in that project provided the Ministry of Trade and Industry with guidance on the introduction of Users Committees into other institutions that participated in the BEEP project.

The BEEP project further influenced the active development of the Business Environment Reforms being streamlined into national institutions by the MOTI.

She serves as chair of the Technical Working Group on ‘Enforcing Contracts’ set up to steer change in the business law environment.

She has also been a member of the Law Reform Commission since 2016.

She was nominated to the Supreme Court in November 2019 and received parliamentary approval in December 2019.

She was sworn in on 17 December 2019.

She was nominated to the office of Chief Justice in April 2023 to replace Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah who retired as Chief Justice on May 24, 2023.

She was sworn into office as the 15th Chief Justice of Ghana on 12 June 2023.

Justice Getrude Torkornoo hails from Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana.

Justice Torkornoo was nominated to the Supreme Court of Ghana in November 2019.

She was sworn into office on 17 December 2019.

In her work as chair of E-Justice Committee, she led the planning of automation of all levels of courts, procurement and incorporation of the use of electronic resources and software in the work of the Judicial Service.

On November 12, 2019, President Nana Akufo-Addo nominated Justice Torkornoo together with Justice Mariama Owusu and Justice Lovelace-Johnson, then Appeal Court Judges.

The announcement was made by the then Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, who stated that the nominations were intended to fill the vacancies left by the retirement of two female justices; Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo and Justice Sophia Adinyira, and the impending retirement of the then Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo.

To comply with the constitutional process, the President consulted with the Council of State by submitting the names and curricula vitae of the nominees for the Supreme Court positions.

After the completion of consultations with the Council of State, the President sought the approval of Parliament for her appointment with her two other colleagues.

Outcomes of the work of the BEEP project within the Judiciary included the design of necessary reforms in the monitoring and evaluation of data collection currently being implemented by the Judiciary, the design of reforms in the post-judgment and execution part of justice delivery, and reforms in stream lining of ADR in commercial justice delivery in Circuit and High Courts that led to the passage of High Court (Civil Procedure) Amendment Rules 2020, CI 133.

She was part of the seven-member panel that heard the 2020 election petition by John Mahama against The Electoral Commission of Ghana and Nana Akufo-Addo.