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Legal Traditions of the World and Ghana’s Legal Heritage

I was inspired to publish this simple piece because I caught myself repeatedly telling my international colleagues that Ghana is a common law country. This is a popular misconception because of our colonial heritage, because in actual fact, Ghana practices a mixed legal system. Let me explain: Law is not only a system of rules but a reflection of a society’s culture, values, and historical development. Around the world, legal systems can generally be grouped into four major legal traditions: common law, civil law, religious law, and customary law. You may be familiar with five and not four because in many countries, especially those with colonial histories or diverse populations, these traditions coexist to form mixed legal systems; the mixed legal system is sometimes referred to as the fifth tradition. Ghana offers a prime example of such a pluralistic system, combining elements of four primary legal traditions in varying degrees. Common Law Tradition The common law tradition originat...
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The Process After an Arrest: Remand and Bail in Ghana

Common to all democratic states, every person is entitled to his right to personal liberty and freedom of movement. This right, just like any other human right, has limits. In article 14(1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the right to liberty can be curtailed when a person is suspected to have committed a criminal offence. A person may be arrested with or without a warrant. In Ghana, four categories of arrests without a warrant exist. They are arrests by officers of law enforcement agencies [i] , private citizens arrests [ii] , arrests by judges [iii]   and arrests by senior prosecuting officers of the Legal Service [iv] . In all these cases, the entity authorised to detain an arrested suspect in lawful custody is a law enforcement agency. This short write-up will set out the processes after an arrested person is placed in custody.   The constitution permits detention for a period of not more than 48 hours after the arrest. [v]  At the end of that period, the detaining...
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THE EFFECTS OF LEGISLATIVE REPEALS ON CRIMINAL TRIALS AND SENTENCES IN GHANA

  Introduction The purpose of this article is simply to educate readers on the effect of a repeal on pending criminal trials. I also consider the effect of a repeal on the prescribed sentence of a repealed criminal offence.  The end of a criminal statute or an offence creating provision in a statute can be by way of a repeal in subsequent legislation or by a Supreme Court declaration that the statute or a provision therein is void because it is inconsistent with the 1992 constitution. [i]  The effect of a repeal is trite: the repealed law, whether an Act of Parliament or a provision in an Act, ceases to have effect [ii]  except as to matters that had already been dealt with. The interesting thing is this: in criminal law, repeals and savings provisions have different effects, first on offences and second, on actions taken based on the substantive laws i.e., a criminal trial. These will be addressed in turn. The Effect of Repeals on Offences - The Legality Principle...
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The Legal Position of Independent Witnesses in Ghana

  The right to fair trial is a fundamental human right recognized in all democracies and entrenched in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. A key component of fair trial is the right against self-incrimination. This principle is applied in two situations: during interrogation by the police and in the course of a trial.     In the former scenario, which is the subject matter of this article, legislative measures have been put in place to prevent law enforcement officers from compelling confessions from suspects. Thus, in section 120 of the Evidence Act [i] , mandatory guidelines for the taking of confession statements have been provided. These guidelines become more imperative when the law enforcement officers themselves act as independent witnesses in the taking of confessions. The significance of a confession statement cannot be overemphasized; it can serve as the only basis for a conviction. This legal position has been stated in many cases including Bilah Moshie vrs The Rep...
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