A photo collage of Justice Philip Bright Mensah (L) and Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin
Justice Philip Bright Mensah, one of the seven Supreme Court nominees, took a subtle swipe at Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the Ranking Member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, during his vetting on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader of Parliament and Member of Parliament for Effutu, had questioned Justice Bright Mensah over a ruling he delivered at the Court of Appeal, which dismissed one of Afenyo-Markin’s appeals.
The Minority Leader argued that his client’s human rights had been violated, and described the dismissals at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court as overly harsh.
“I consider it a missed opportunity for the judiciary to have exercised judicial leadership to protect fundamental human rights. Because, on the facts, it was obvious – the man had not been tried, he was not even on notice – yet he was affected by time constraints and could not apply.
“Equity would not operate in his favour in that instance. My Lord, in the present circumstances, how would you advise the courts approach interpretation with this in mind?” he asked.
Justice Bright Mensah began his response by expressing satisfaction that the Supreme Court upheld his decision by dismissing Afenyo-Markin’s challenge.
“I’m very happy that my decision was affirmed, and when you went to the Supreme Court, you were also overthrown,” the judge remarked with a chuckle.
Addressing the substance of the question, he added, “You see, judges do justice according to the law. We don’t do justice based on emotions. The court you approached was not a human rights court. You were not raising human rights issues. Equity follows the law.”
BAI/MA
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