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Introduction TO Ghana Legal System
Law of contract (law 23)
University of Ghana
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Ghana Legal SystemPreview text
INTRODUCTION TO GHANA LEGAL
SYSTEM
This course or area of study deals with the legal system which includes the institutions and tools for dispute resolution as well as the methods applied to the system of law of Ghana.
The Ghana legal system takes from the common law tradition due to our historical and colonial associations. However, the legal system is also considered pluralistic or hybrid in nature. This is because, the dominance of the common law traits notwithstanding, it is connected with the features of other traditions.
Generally, the decisions of Judges of the superior courts in cases have a place of pride in the Ghana Legal System. They define legal the law or legal authorities through a structured hierarchical system. The practice is that, cases that come before the superior courts or courts of record, are recorded and reported in law reports.
These reports are extremely material to the study and practice of law in Ghana and other common law jurisdictions. What is the law on a particular legal issue or question, depends on what the courts or judges say is the principle or the law as reported in the law reports. Lawyers and law students have an onerous duty to keep pace with these decisions of the court. The skill to locate and research the law reports is one that must be developed with haste.
In addition to law reports, the law student must equally pay attention to statutes. Statutes are enactments or Acts of Parliament. The foundation law student must familiarize with statutes and understand how they are cited as well understand their structure and relevance. In contemporary times, statutes have emerged to regulate the ever-complex nature of human needs and societal challenges. It will be fatal to concentrate on decisions of superior courts without a corresponding appetite for statutes.
Today, very few legal areas depend solely on case law. The primary source of law for a vast majority of legal considerations are statutes, it is thus important for foundation law students to develop the skill of reading and briefing a statute.
In view of this, this paper will assist with the basic tools for locating a case or researching case law, understanding and briefing statutes as well as providing direction to legal journals which complement law reports to aid the integration of the foundation of law student into their training and study of the Law.
Researching Case Law
In all facets of the legal training and practice, one will be required to access decided cases either for a reference to a judge by a lawyer in practice or for scholarly publications. It is a necessity for a foundation of law student, as it is an integral part of the training. To research case law or law reports, it is important to appreciate how legal cases are ‘cited’ in legal literature.
This is understanding is critical for a foundation law student as well as the lawyer in practice or academia. You may be required to cite a reported case for course work, for a judge as a lawyer or a legal publication as an author.
In order to do this better, one must understand the various parts or elements which make a case reference.
For eg; Donkor v Isifu [1963] 1GLR 418-
What does this mean?
Donkor - The Party to the action who makes a claim against another. He is referred as the Plaintiff or Claimant or Applicant
Isifu-The Party to the action against whom a claim has been made. He is required to defend the claim and referred to as the Defendant or Respondent.
[1963]- Represents the year in which the case was printed in the law reports. However, where the citation provides the year in rounded brackets as in Donkor v Isifu (1963) 1GLR, the volume of the report aids the location of the report and not the year of the judgment.
1- The volume number of the reports in which the case is
Judgments 2. G.B.L Ghana Bar Law Reports 3. G.L. Ghana Law Reports 4. G.L. D. Ghana Law Reports Digest 5. G.M Ghana Monthly Judgments 6. R.G Review of Ghana Law 7. Sar. F.C.L Sarbah Fante Customary Law Reports 8. Sar. F.L Sarbah Fante Law Reports 9. S.C.G.L Supreme Court of Ghana Law Report 10. W.A.C. West African Court of Appeals 11. W.A.L. West African Law Reports
Briefing a case Beyond locating the case in the law reports, the law student must master the skill of reading and briefing reported cases. It seems a herculean task to read and summarize a 100-page report into a page or less. It is basically a self-teaching tool
What is the Purpose of Case Briefs?
Case briefs serve a myriad of purpose for the student of law, the practitioner or legal scholars. It may be stressful for a beginner but very rewarding in its application. For students, it is proven as an effective means of learning the law. Case briefs may assist in the following ways;
Generally, reading of reported cases assist to build the capacity of students in their use of legal vocabulary and terminologies.
It provides students with an easier methodology for reviewing the complex and long decision by reducing same into facts, issues, holding, reasoning inter alia.
They assist students to identify the rules of law as determined by the courts and how they are applied to facts in an objective and rational manner.
It offers the opportunity to build a comprehensive database of principles or law for an area of law by reading to identify the principle of law established, cases that affirm the earlier decision and those which make an exception to the rule or departs from same.
Provide a useful means of recalling facts and decisions of a particular cases in short space of time, as a skill required of students. This will assist them to apply judicial principles or rules to contemporary factual situations or case studies for their studies among others.
Case briefing improves analytic skills and heightens understanding of the role of courts in defining, interpreting, and applying law. The process also teaches you about moral viewpoints and the seam between ethical values and the law.
How to brief cases
A brief should be brief. A long brief defeats the purpose of breaking a long case into its essential parts. A good brief must always come good as a bikini in that, no matter how short or brief it appears, a good bikini is always enough to cover the essential parts of the body. There is no established format for a brief. However, there are some basic components of a brief that are common to most brief styles. These are; - Parties - Facts (material facts) - Issues - Summary of argument of Parties - Decision (Ruling or Judgment) - Reasoning - Conclusion
A. CITATION You start the brief by writing the case name and citation accurately and the name of the court and date (for your notes).
B. FACTS State the facts of the case in your own words. Indicate which facts bear on the issues to be decided. Do not just repeat the judge’s words. Be brief. Often a sign of how well you understand the case is your ability to identify the relative importance of facts. Some cases may have many extraneous facts that do not need to be in your brief. Most certainly, some facts will be more important than others. Your task is to frame the problem by describing the facts that count, the ones that matter, the ones that are material to the purpose of your exercise. You must practice isolating the material facts from the facts. You may consider the following guide; - Identify all the facts of the case - Identify the decision delivered by the court - Identify all the fact that were considered by the court in determining the issues
You are required to organize these components and explain how the court used them to reach its decision. You are trying to find the rule of law that may flow from this case. The rule of law is the “why” of the decision, not the “what.” This is very important, as unless you can determine the why of a case, it is very difficult to use the case to predict the outcome of similar disputes when they arise.
Ratio Decidendi: (what rule did the court apply to reach its conclusion) The ratio decidendi is the principle of law or the legal reason which was necessary for the court to come to its decision. There are narrow and broad views of the ratio decidendi. This may require you to compare different opinions of several judges.
F. CONCLUSION
Finally, but also important, what do you think of the decision? Is it logical, just, fair, or otherwise? How does it fit with a textbook chapter or topic?
REQUIRED; BRIEF OF THE CASE OF NPP V AG (31ST DECEMBER
CASE)
BRIEFING A STATUTE.
Though Ghana Legal System is connected historically and legally to the Common law tradition which places premium on case law, the reading and briefing of Statutes have become an integral part of the training of lawyers.
Statutes are enactments of Parliament. They are also referred to as Acts of Parliament. In contemporary times, Statutes have emerged to regulate the ever-complex parts of modern societies and life. It will be thus fatal, to over emphasis the need for reading appellate cases without a corresponding appetite for statutes. Today, very few legal areas depend solely on case law. The primary source for a vast majority of legal challenges are statutes. It is thus important for foundation law students to develop the skill to read a statute.
In order to appreciate a Statute, it is important to understand their features. Key features to note include;
I. Statutes are cited in Sections, Sub-sections, paragraphs and sub-paragraphs with references in numerals as Sections and sub-sections whereas alphabets and roman numeral cited as paragraphs and sub-paragraphs respectively.
Eg, Section 3 (a) (i) of the Development and Classification of Film Act, 2016 (Act 935) will read; sub-paragraph i of paragraph (a) of section 3
Section 3 (1) (a) (d) Sub paragraph d of paragraph (a) of Subsection 1 of Section 3
Constitutions and Legislative Instruments (L), take similar forms except that;
- Constitutions are read as Articles Clauses, Paragraphs and Sub- Paragraphs and
- L are read as Regulations, Sub- Regulations, Paragraphs & Sub- Paragraphs
II. Short Title of the Act, often on the back or first page of the Statute. It includes the name, year of enactment and number. An Eg is Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).
III. Long Title of the Act provides for the preamble of the Act. It offers a summary, intention or purpose of the Act. Eg, the long title is; ‘AN ACT to regulate the financial management of the public sector within a macroeconomic and fiscal framework; to define responsibilities of persons entrusted with the management and control of public funds, assets, liabilities, and resources, to ensure that public funds are sustainable and consistent with the level of public debt; to provide for accounting and audit of public funds and to provide for related matters’ [ Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921)
IV. Date of Assent- it is the date on which the President signs the Act into law and unless a contrary intention is expressed in the Act, it is the date on which the law comes into force.
V. Object & Function Section- Look out for the Object and Function clause if any. The object often provides the policy
Introduction TO Ghana Legal System
Course: Law of contract (law 23)
University: University of Ghana
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