Supreme Court nominee, Justice Philip Bright Mensah has firmly stated that he does not support any proposal to raise the retirement age of judges from 70 to 75 years, describing such a move as ill-advised and counterproductive.

Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, Justice Mensah made it unequivocally clear that the current legal retirement age for judges should remain unchanged, citing the intense workload and stress associated with judicial responsibilities, particularly at the Supreme Court level.

“I will never, never advocate that the age of a judge – the Supreme Court for that matter – be raised from 70 to 75,” he told the Committee.

“In other jurisdictions, workers may retire for life and serve well into their eighties, but our system is different.”

Justice Mensah explained that unlike some countries where Supreme Courts handle only a limited number of cases, Ghana’s apex court is constantly overwhelmed with high volumes of litigation, making the work both demanding and exhausting.

“The cases that go to the Supreme Court here are many. If you want to do the work and do it efficiently, you need to work very hard — and it is very stressful,” he said.

“It is not advisable that when you get to your retiring age of 70, then you say you want to go to 75. If you don’t take care, the 75 will not even come — then you join your ancestors.”

He concluded that the current system, which requires Supreme Court justices to retire at 70, provides a reasonable and humane balance between public service and personal wellbeing.

“Let the law remain as it is: 70, and then you bow out from the bench,” he asserted.