Sophia Akuffo

Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo (born 20 December 1949) was the Chief Justice of Ghana from 2017 until 20 December 2019. She had been a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ghana since 1995.[1]

Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo
Sophia Akuffo undergoing vetting for role of Chief Justice
13th Chief Justice of Ghana
24th Chief Justice of Gold Coast/Ghana
In office
19 June 2017 – 20 December 2019
Appointed byNana Akufo-Addo
Preceded byGeorgina Wood
Succeeded byKwasi Anin-Yeboah
Supreme Court Judge
In office
30 November 1995 – 20 December 2019
Appointed byJerry Rawlings
Personal details
Born (1949-12-20) 20 December 1949
Akropong-Akuapem
NationalityGhanaian
Children1 daughter
Alma mater
ProfessionJudge

Education

She had her secondary education at Wesley Girls' High School, Cape Coast and obtained her Bachelor of laws degree from the University of Ghana.[2][3] She went on to the Ghana School of Law where she qualified as a barrister.[2] Akuffo trained as a lawyer under Nana Akufo-Addo.[4] She has a master's degree in law from Harvard University.[3][5]

Career

Akuffo has been a member of the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute,[3][6] and the Chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force. In January 2006 she was elected one of the first judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights:[7] initially elected for two years,[8] she was subsequently re-elected until 2014 and served as Vice-President and President of the Court.[9][5]

Akuffo wrote The Application of Information & Communication Technology in the Judicial Process – the Ghanaian Experience, a presentation to the African Judicial Network Ghana (2002).[1]

Chief Justice of Ghana

Akuffo was nominated as Chief Justice on 11 May 2017 by Nana Akufo-Addo subject to approval by Parliament.[3][5] She was sworn in by President Akufo-Addo on 19 June 2017 as the thirteenth Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana.[10] The last judgment she was involved in was on 18 December 2019 when the Supreme Court passed a unanimous ruling that courts could sit at weekends and on bank holidays to deal with urgent legal cases.[11] She also spoke of her gratitude to some former Presidents of Ghana. These included John Atta Mills who was her lecturer on Taxation at the Ghana Law School and also nominated her for the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights in Ethiopia. She also cited Jerry Rawlings who nominated her to the Supreme Court in 1995 and John Kufuor who nominated her for the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2006.[3] She became president of this court with the support of John Mahama and was nominated by Nana Akufo-Addo as Chief Justice.[3][12]

Judicial writings
  • New Patriotic Party v Attorney-General (also referred to as the CIBA case) 1997 ICHRL 24 (12 March 1997)

Retirement

After serving as Chief Justice, Akuffo retired in 2019.[13][14][15]

On 28 February 2020, Nana Akufo-Addo appointed Akuffo to chair a newly formed COVID-19 Fund inaugurated during the COVID-19 pandemic.[16][17][18]

Family

She has a daughter and two grand children.

See also

References
  1. "Judiciary will use technology for quality justice - Justice Sophia Akuffo". Ghanaweb. Ghanaweb. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  2. "Her Ladyship Chief Justice Sophia A.B. Akuffo Delivers 2019 Alumni Lecture". UNIVERSITY OF GHANA. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. "Patrons of the Journal". The Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  4. Akufo-Addo for President '08 Archived 2010-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Alfa Shaban, Abdur Rahman (12 May 2017). "Ghana to have second successive female Chief Justice". Africa News. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  6. Judge Sophia Akuffo Archived 2010-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Samuel M. Makinda and F. Wafula Okumu, The African Union: challenges of globalization, security, and governance, Routledge, 2006, p. 190
  8. African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Booklet Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
  9. The African Court Judges Archived 2010-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Full list of Chief Justices in Ghana since 1957". Ghanaweb. Ghanaweb. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  11. "Courts can sit on weekends, public holidays - Supreme Court rules". ghanaweb.com. GhanaWeb. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  12. "I was weak in Arithmetic but Mills passed me – Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo". ghanaweb.com. GhanaWeb. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  13. https://www.modernghana.com/news/970735/retiring-cj-sophia-akuffo-wants-high-standards.html
  14. https://dailyguidenetwork.com/sophia-akuffo-bows-out-as-cj/
  15. https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Sophia-Akuffo-speaks-on-Anin-Yeboah-s-candidacy-819196
  16. https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/sophia-akuffo-former-chief-justice-chairs-covid-19-fund/w33y1wd
  17. https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/national/akufo-addo-inaugurates-board-of-trustees-for-covid-19-national-trust-fund/
  18. https://starrfm.com.gh/2020/03/former-cj-sophia-akuffo-chairs-covid-19-fund/
Legal offices
Preceded by
Georgina Wood		 Chief Justice of Ghana
2017–2019		 Succeeded by
Kwasi Anin-Yeboah
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