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Supreme Court Justice Nominee Clemence Honyenuga has called for an upper limit on the number of apex court judges.
He said the limit should, however, be high enough to allow the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court the opportunity to round up the judges without much sweat.
Responding to questions from the House Appointments Committee on Monday, Honyenuga said the number may be limited to 17.
This, he said, would create a large group of judges who would be available to participate in cases, even if more than one or two judges have withdrawn from a case.
The current judge of the Court of Appeals, giving a scenario of this, said that if he is approved to the apex court, he would have to abstain from any case that reaches the Supreme Court in which he sat in the Court of Appeals.
He said that if other judges also recuse for similar or other reasons, it would make the connection difficult.
However, if there is a large group of judges, three panel groups can be created for three cases with two additional judges who may be out because they recused themselves.
The 1992 Constitution establishes in article 128 that “the Supreme Court shall be composed of the President of the Supreme Court and not less than nine judges of the Supreme Court”.
Furthermore, it establishes that “the Supreme Court shall be duly constituted for its work by no less than five Supreme Court judges …”.
However, there is no mention of an upper limit on the number of judges who can be appointed to the highest court in the country.
Regional balance in the Supreme Court
Speaking about the composition of the court, Honyenuga suggested that the nominating authority consider regional balance in the highest court.
He said this should be done so that “a region would not feel that they are not being served” at that level.
There would be four judges of the Volta Region Supreme Court if Honyenuga is approved.
He added, however, that the appointment should always be subject to merit.
