Supreme Court nominee, Prof Richard Frimpong Oppong, has stated that the constitution does not impose a limit on the number of justices in the Supreme Court to 10.
His interpretation of the constitution’s stance on the number of justices in the Supreme Court was sought by Mahama Ayariga, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, during his (Prof Oppong) vetting by the Parliamentary Vetting Committee in Accra on Tuesday.
Previously, Mr Ayariga had questioned the president’s authority to appoint more than nine justices to the Supreme Court, in addition to the Chief Justice.
He maintained that the constitution stipulates a minimum of nine justices, in addition to the Chief Justice, for the Supreme Court. He further argued that while the constitution does not specify a maximum limit on the number of Supreme Court Justices, past and current presidents have assumed this power.
In response to Mr Ayariga, Prof Oppong stated, “If you look at the article you quoted, I think 128 (1)…A plain meaning of those words means that the constitution sets a lower floor which cannot be exceeded, which is the nine. You can’t go below the nine, but it doesn’t put a cap on the number of justices that can serve on the Supreme Court and of course from a purposive interpretation of the constitution you cannot get somebody to the Supreme Court without appointing that person. ”
“So, from my perspective, a plain meaning of the word of the constitution supports the view that there can be more than 10 justices on the Supreme Court if you include the Chief Justice.”
