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Supreme Court nominee Anthony Forson Jnr. has opposed proposals to limit the number of justices on Ghana’s apex court to 19, arguing that such a restriction could undermine the efficient administration of justice.
According to him, the Supreme Court’s extensive constitutional jurisdiction and increasing workload make a fixed ceiling on its membership impractical.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Thursday, August 27, 2026, Mr Forson said any attempt to impose a cap should first be preceded by a reduction in the range of matters assigned to the Supreme Court.
“Well, I’m one of the advocates of no capping because of my experience and the kind of seminars that I have been to,” he said.
He referred to discussions held during an earlier constitutional review process in Parliament, where he said Justice Frimpong Manso raised concerns about limiting the number of justices because of the broad responsibilities assigned to the apex court.
“In fact, one of them was in this very chamber where my Lord Justice Frimpong indicated to the committee when we were doing the constitutional review that because of the jurisdictions which have been given to the Supreme Court, which is so wide, capping will bring a problem,” he said.
Mr Forson maintained that the size of the Supreme Court should be assessed in relation to its constitutional mandate and the volume of cases it is required to handle.
He argued that unless Ghana undertakes reforms to reduce the court’s jurisdiction, there should be no fixed limit on the number of justices.
“So unless as a country we decide to reduce the jurisdictions which have been allocated to the Supreme Court, for now there should be no cap,” he said.
His position comes as Ghana considers a number of constitutional reforms, including a government-backed proposal to limit the membership of the Supreme Court to 19 justices and introduce a fixed tenure for the Chief Justice.
Workload remains a concern
The Supreme Court nominee also cited the workload that informed previous decisions to expand the membership of the apex court.
He said the reasons advanced for earlier increases in the number of justices demonstrated that the court’s existing composition had struggled to cope with its caseload.
“Indeed, if you look at the write-ups on the justification for the expansion of the membership of the Supreme Court, it was clear that the current composition was unable to cope with the workload,” he said.
Mr Forson therefore maintained his opposition to the proposed restriction, stressing that the current demands on the Supreme Court should be considered before any decision is taken to impose a numerical limit.
“For now, I disagree that there should be a cap,” he stated.