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About

The purpose of this blog is to share content based on the observations made by the Author in the course of her criminal practice. It is meant strictly to be educative and informative. 

Each blog post is triggered by a difficulty faced by a practitioner or a legal question posed which is answered by a court. Where answers to such identified issues are not readily available, the Author undertakes research on those issues and offers same for the consideration of readers. 

Content shared on this blog, with the exception of legal authorities, reflect only the Author’s views.

You may contact the author with suggestions, questions or requests for assistance via email on criminallawblogghana@gmail.com.

Popular posts from this blog

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 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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Sources of Criminal Legislation in Ghana

The laws regulating criminal procedure in Ghana are many. Indeed, the 1992 Constitution is the first source of criminal law. It contains provisions on fundamental human rights and the fair trial rules. The constitution also contains some offences, an example being the offence of high treason in article 3 (3). The primary enactment that codifies offences in Ghana is the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). In addition to Act 29, there are specialised enactments targeted at specific kinds of offences. These include the Cybesecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038), the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732), the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044). And then there are enactments passed for other reasons but have offence creating sections that criminalise certain acts or omissions. An example is the Minerals and Mining Act, 2003 (Act 703) as amended, which regulates the mining industry, acquisition of mining licenses etc. The Act crim...
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