Nii Ashie Kotey

Nii Ashie Kotey (born 2 October 1953) is a Ghanaian judge and academic. He served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana from 3 October 2018 until his retirement on 28 July 2023.

Appointment Kotey was nominated together with three other judges (Justice Agnes Dordzie, Justice Samuel Marful-Sau and Justice Nene Amegatcher) by the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo in 2018. He together with the three judges were recommended to the president by the three nominating bodies, the Chief Justice of Ghana, Attorney General of Ghana and the Ghana Bar Association. and sworn into office in October 2018.

Supreme Court Since his elevation to the bench, Kotey has been involved in a number of important decisions. Significant among these are the landmark cases of Theophilus Donkor v. The Attorney-General (The Presidential Transitions case), Mayor Agbleze v. Attorney-General & Electoral Commission (The Creation of New Regions case) and National Democratic Congress v. Attorney-General & Electoral Commission; Mark Takyi-Banson v. Electoral Commission & Attorney-General (On the Right to Vote, Registration of Voters and Identification of Persons Applying to Register as Voters) in all of which he delivered the judgment of the court.

Other notable cases he has been involved in include; The Republic v. High Court, Accra; Ex parte Attorney-General (Exton Cubic, Interested Party) (The Bauxite Concession case), The Republic v. High Court, Accra; Ex parte Gregory Afoko (The Constitutionality of Nolle Prosequi case), Richard Korsah v. The Executive Director Economic and Organised Crime Office and Attorney-General (The Forfeiture and Seizure of Assets case) and Justice Abdulai v. The Attorney-General (The Determination of the Quorum of Parliament case).

In the area of Private Law, Kotey has delivered a number of significant decisions including Ecobank Ghana Limited v. Aluminium Industries Limited (On the Distinction Between the Tort of Negligence and Negligent Breach of Contract and the Consequences Flowing therefrom), Opanin Agyarkwa & Ors v. Folagin & Ors (On the Conditions on which it would be Unlawful for a Court to Set Aside its Judgment), Tieso Ghana Limited v. Euroget De-Investa SA (On the Primacy and Interpretation of Arbitration Clauses in Contracts) and Nii Stephen Maley Nai v. East Dadekotopon Development Trust (On Urbanisation and Land Use Change in Accra and Its Impacts on the Operation of the Doctrine of Estoppel). Justice Kotey was also a member of the seven-member panel that heard the Presidential Election Petition following the 2020 Presidential Election.

Kotey also serves on a number of committees. He is the Chair of the Board of the Judicial Training Institute, the Internship and Attachment Committee and the Quinquennial Leave Committee. He is also the Chair of the Independent Examinations Committee of the General Legal Council. Prior to his elevation to the bench, Kotey had spent over thirty-five years in teaching, research, consulting, legal practice and senior management.

Academia & Career

As an academic, Kotey's expertise were Natural Resources and Environmental Law, Human Rights Law and Constitutional Law. Kotey became a lecturer at the University of Ghana in 1981. While a lecturer at the university, he worked as a Solicitor and Advocate at Azinyo Chambers from 1982 to 2000. He was dean of the University of Ghana Faculty of Law from 2003 to 2007 and from 2005 to 2007 he served as the acting director of the Ghana School of Law. He began schooling in 1959 at the New Ghana International School in Osu but left in 1962 to attend the Presbyterian Primary School at Ada Foah. In 1964, he enrolled at the Presbyterian Middle Boarding School at Osu. He proceeded to St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School in 1966, where he obtained his Ordinary Level ('O'-Level) certificate in 1971. He continued at Apam Senior High School that same year for his Advanced Level ('A'-Level) certificate which he received in 1973. He proceeded to the United Kingdom to pursue a post graduate degree in law (LL.M) which he obtained from the University of London in 1977. He received his doctorate degree from the same university in 1981 and returned to Ghana that same year to enroll at the Ghana School of Law in Accra. He completed his studies in 1982 and was called to the bar in that same year.

Personal life Nii Ashie Kotey is married with children. He is a Presbyterian and worships at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu.