Justice Sophia Akuffo

Chief Justice of Ghana | Previous President of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Justice Sophia Akuffo is the current Chief Justice of Ghana and a previous President of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Justice Akuffo has been a Judge since 1995. She has over the years been on the Bench of the Supreme Court in numerous landmark cases, including New Patriotic Party v Attorney-General (also referred to as the CIBA case) 1997 ICHRL 24 (12 March 1997), in which the Supreme Court in 1997 found unconstitutional the Council of Indigenous Business Associations. Justice Akuffo was nominated as Chief Justice by President Akufo-Addo; and after being approved by Parliament, she was sworn in by the President on 19 June 2017 as the thirteenth Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana.

She was elected as one of the first judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in 2006, initially for two years, and subsequently re-elected for another six years. During this period, she was the Vice-President of the Court for a four years; and the President of the Court for two years.

She is a member of several organisations, including the Advisory Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute; the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, and the Chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force.