Sophia Akuffo

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GHA|JSC|size=100%}}

| image = Sophia Akuffo.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Sophia Akuffo undergoing vetting for the role of Chief Justice in the Supreme Court of Ghana

| office = 13th Chief Justice of Ghana
24th Chief Justice of Gold Coast/Ghana

| term_start = 19 June 2017

| term_end = 20 December 2019

| nominator =

| appointer = Nana Akufo-Addo

| predecessor = Georgina Wood

| successor = Kwasi Anin-Yeboah

| office2 = Supreme Court Judge

| term_start2 = 30 November 1995

| term_end2 = 20 December 2019

| nominator2 =

| appointer2 = Jerry Rawlings

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age |1949|12|20|df=y}}

| birth_place = Akropong-Akuapem in the Eastern Region of Ghana

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| nationality = Ghanaian

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| children = 1 daughter

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| alma_mater = {{unbulleted|Parliament Hill School|Wesley Girls' High School|University of Ghana|Ghana School of Law|Harvard University}}

| occupation = {{hlist|Lawyer|Judge}}

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Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo {{post-nominals|country=GHA|JSC}} (born 20 December 1949) was the chief justice of Ghana from 19 June 2017 until 20 December 2019. She had been a judge in the Supreme Court of Ghana since 1995.{{cite web |date=19 June 2017 |title=Judiciary will use technology for quality justice - Justice Sophia Akuffo |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Judiciary-will-use-technology-for-quality-justice-Justice-Sophia-Akuffo-549940 |access-date=21 June 2017 |website= |publisher=Ghanaweb}}

Education

The daughter of a Presbyterian minister, she had her secondary education at Parliament Hill School, Hampstead, London and Wesley Girls' High School, Cape Coast and obtained her Bachelor of law degree from the University of Ghana.{{cite web |url=https://www.ug.edu.gh/news/her-ladyship-chief-justice-sophia-ab-akuffo-delivers-2019-alumni-lecture |title=Her Ladyship Chief Justice Sophia A.B. Akuffo Delivers 2019 Alumni Lecture |publisher=UNIVERSITY OF GHANA |access-date=8 April 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/ouclj/patrons-journal |title=Patrons of the Journal |publisher=The Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal |access-date=8 April 2020}} She furthered her education at the Ghana School of Law where she qualified as a barrister. Akuffo trained as a lawyer under Nana Akufo-Addo, who would later become the president of Ghana in 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://www.akufoaddo.org/candidate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204134018/http://www.akufoaddo.org/candidate|url-status=usurped|title=Akufo-Addo for President '08|archivedate=Feb 4, 2010|accessdate=May 27, 2021}} She has a master's degree in law from Harvard.{{Cite web |date=2020-02-25 |title=Her Ladyship Justice Sophia A. B. Akuffo {{!}} Presbyterian University, Ghana |url=https://www.presbyuniversity.edu.gh/site/her-ladyship-the-chief-justice-sophia-a-b-akuffo/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |language=en-US}}

Career

Sophia Akuffo worked in private practice and was appointed by Jerry Rawlings to the Supreme Court in November 1995. She has been a member of the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute,{{Cite web |title=Judge Sophia Akuffo - The African Court Judges - About the African Court - Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples Rights |url=http://www.africancourtcoalition.org/editorial.asp?page_id=63 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20101202191111/http://www.africancourtcoalition.org/editorial.asp?page_id=63 |archive-date=2010-12-02 |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.africancourtcoalition.org |language=en}} and the chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force for several years. In January 2006, she was elected as one of the first judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights:Samuel M. Makinda and F. Wafula Okumu, The African Union: challenges of globalization, security, and governance, Routledge, 2006, p. 190 she was initially elected for two years and{{Cite web|url=http://www.ealawsociety.org/attachments/ACC_Guide_African_Court2008_ENG_01.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720085342/http://www.ealawsociety.org/attachments/ACC_Guide_African_Court2008_ENG_01.pdf|url-status=dead|title=African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Booklet|archivedate=Jul 20, 2011|accessdate=May 27, 2021}} was subsequently re-elected until 2014 and served as vice-president and president of the court respectively.{{Cite web |title=The African Court Judges - About the African Court - Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples Rights |url=http://www.africancourtcoalition.org/editorial.asp?page_id=62 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20101202191101/http://www.africancourtcoalition.org/editorial.asp?page_id=62 |archive-date=2010-12-02 |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.africancourtcoalition.org |language=en}}

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

= Chief Justice of Ghana =

On 11 May 2017, Akuffo was nominated as the highest ranking Judge of the Supreme Court of Ghana by Nana Akuffo-Addo, subject to approval by Parliament.{{cite web|url=http://www.africanews.com/2017/05/12/ghana-to-have-second-successive-female-chief-justice/|title=Ghana to have second successive female Chief Justice|work=Africa News|date=12 May 2017|access-date=2 June 2017|first=Abdur Rahman|last=Alfa Shaban}} She was sworn in by President Akuffo-Addo on 19 June 2017 as the thirteenth Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana.{{cite web |title=Full list of Chief Justices in Ghana since 1957 |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Full-list-of-Chief-Justices-in-Ghana-since-1957-550669 |access-date=21 June 2017 |website= |publisher=Ghanaweb}}

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.{{cite web |date=18 December 2019 |title=Courts can sit on weekends, public holidays - Supreme Court rules |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Courts-can-sit-on-weekends-public-holidays-Supreme-Court-rules-818797 |access-date=13 January 2020 |website= |publisher=GhanaWeb}} 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. She became president of this court with the support of John Mahama and was nominated by Nana Akufo-Addo as chief justice.{{cite web |date=18 December 2019 |title=I was weak in Arithmetic but Mills passed me – Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/I-was-weak-in-Arithmetic-but-Mills-passed-me-Chief-Justice-Sophia-Akuffo-818938 |access-date=13 January 2020 |website= |publisher=GhanaWeb}}

Judicial writings

New Patriotic Party v Attorney-General (also referred to as the CIBA case) 1997 ICHRL 24 (12 March 1997)
Abankro and Others Vrs Ansah (J2 2 of 2009) [2016] GHASC 74 (9 March 2016)
Banful and Another Vrs Attorney General and Another (J1 7 of 2016) [2017] GHASC 21 (22 June 2017)
Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association Vrs Attorney General and Another (J1 4 of 2016) [2017] GHASC 45 (3 November 2017)
Chraj Vrs Attorney General and Others (J1 3 of 2010) [2011] GHASC 19 (6 April 2011)

After serving as chief justice, Akuffo retired in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.modernghana.com/news/970735/retiring-cj-sophia-akuffo-wants-high-standards.html|title=Retiring CJ, Sophia Akuffo wants high standards in legal profession maintained|website=Modern Ghana|accessdate=May 27, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://dailyguidenetwork.com/sophia-akuffo-bows-out-as-cj/|title=Sophia Akuffo Bows Out As CJ|date=Dec 19, 2019|website=DailyGuide Network|accessdate=May 27, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Sophia-Akuffo-speaks-on-Anin-Yeboah-s-candidacy-819196|title=Sophia Akuffo speaks on Anin Yeboah's candidacy|date=Dec 19, 2019|website=GhanaWeb|accessdate=May 27, 2021}}

On 28 March 2020, Nana Akufo-Addo appointed Akuffo to chair a newly formed COVID-19 National Trust Fund inaugurated during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/sophia-akuffo-former-chief-justice-chairs-covid-19-fund/w33y1wd|title=Sophia Akuffo: Former Chief Justice chairs COVID-19 Fund|date=Mar 28, 2020|website=Pulse Ghana|accessdate=27 May 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/national/akufo-addo-inaugurates-board-of-trustees-for-covid-19-national-trust-fund/ |title = MyJoyOnline.com - Ghana's most comprehensive website. Credible, fearless and independent journalism}}{{cite news |url=https://starrfm.com.gh/2020/03/former-cj-sophia-akuffo-chairs-covid-19-fund/ |title = Former CJ Sophia Akuffo chairs COVID-19 fund — Starr Fm| newspaper=Starr Fm | date=27 March 2020 }}

She also serves as the chairperson of the board of the University of Ghana{{cite web | url=https://www.myjoyonline.com/justice-sophia-akuffo-appointed-new-chair-of-university-of-ghana-governing-council/ | title=Justice Sophia Akuffo appointed new Chair of University of Ghana Governing Council - MyJoyOnline | date=26 July 2021 }} and holds membership on several boards of directors of various organizations.{{cite web |url=https://www.moh.gov.gh/president-akufo-addo-inaugurates-board-of-trustees-for-the-covid-19-national-trust-fund

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811130251/https://www.moh.gov.gh/president-akufo-addo-inaugurates-board-of-trustees-for-the-covid-19-national-trust-fund/ |archive-date=11 Aug 2024

|publisher=Republic of Ghana Ministry of Health

|title=President Akufo-Addo Inaugurates Board of Trustees for the Covid-19 National Trust Fund |access-date=9 Sep 2024}}

Family

She has a daughter who goes by the name Violet Padi and two grand children Samuel Osei and Cara Nyame. She has a large extended family including five living sisters but is seen to be closer to the three mentioned above.{{Cite web |title=Violet Fredericka Tsotsoo Padi, changing the face of natural cosmetics |url=https://newsghana.com.gh/violet-fredericka-tsotsoo-padi-changing-the-face-of-natural-cosmetics/ |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=News Ghana.}}