Supreme Court nominee, Justice Senyo Dzamefe, has suggested that the retirement age for judges should remain at 70, arguing that it provides an opportunity for experienced legal minds to continue contributing to public service in other capacities.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, 16th June 2025, Justice Dzamefe said extending the retirement age to 75 was unnecessary, particularly in an era where technology enables faster knowledge acquisition.
“The retirement ages are now 70. Superior Court judges retire on their salaries. I guess formerly you needed to be advanced in age to get the experience and the exposure so that when you give judgements, it’s respected… because you’re adding personal experience to the legal knowledge you have,” he said.
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“But technology has made it such that what you needed 60–70 years to know, you can now acquire very early.”
He noted that while experience and age remain vital in shaping sound judicial decisions, retiring at 70 would allow judges to remain active and useful to the judiciary and society in other roles.
“So personally, my opinion is to keep it at 70, not 75,” Justice Dzamefe added. “I want judges to retire very healthy and then we can use them for other purposes like assessors. They can help the judiciary or the service in other forms – like filtering cases.”
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His remarks come at a time when national conversations around reforming aspects of the judicial system, including tenure and efficiency, have gained traction.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Hamdia Mohammed
