Towards the last quarter of the 19th Century, a very important ‘marriage’ was celebrated in England that brought together two hitherto hostile, but independent personalities. This newly wedded couple was the common law and equity. So important was their holy solemnization that it took a statute (i.e. the Judicature Act of 1873-1875) to tie them down...
Introduction Presumption of advancement is a legal presumption that arises in various forms. It simply means a transfer of property or money from husband and child and also from husband and wife. The issue of whether the transfer of the property was to be construed as a gift or as a resulting trust is a...
Introduction Although African philosophy of Law has its roots in African customary law, it can be seen as an evolving jurisprudential tradition overshadowed by western principles. This opinion is buttressed by the fact that African legal philosophy generally lacks formal recognition in our legal system. In proof of this assertion, the discussion will be broken...
Introduction On 24th November 1933, the Privy Council delivered a decision that has had far reaching consequences on not only our jurisprudence but British West Africa in general. The case was Abotche Kponuglo and Others v. Adja Kodadja[i](known in our law reports simply as: Kponuglo v. Kodadja and in this article as ‘the Kodadja case’). The ratio of...
On Wednesday, 27th May 2020, Dr. Alex Ansong, Senior Lecturer and Head of Public Law Department at the GIMPA Faculty of Law, delivered via Zoom, the fourth edition of the GIMPA Law and Ethics Web series on the theme: International Trade and Investment Relations after the Pandemic: Africa Rising? This session was moderated by Professor Richard Frimpong...
INTRODUCTION The recent decision of the Supreme Court in Martin Kpebu v Attorney-General has finally settled the law on the grant of bail and other related offences stated under section 96(7) of Act 30 as amended by section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment Act, 2002 (Act 633) and as further amended by section 41(1) (a)...
Introduction The article continues in Part II where it continues with the forum for unconstitutional contracts by providing further explanations by way of an example. It will move on to discuss the doctrine of restitution under constitutional illegal contracts and conclude the two-part article. Forum for Resolving Unconstitutional Contracts The choice of forum for hearing...
Illegality of contracts is a concept under contract law. It generally refers to the making or performance of a contract contrary to law[1]. Thus, a contract entered into by a party contrary to law or performed contrary to law is an illegal contract. The distinguished law teacher, Dowouna-Hammond, defines illegal contracts as contracts whose “formation...
On Wednesday 20th May 2020, Dr. Isidore Kwadwo Tufuor, Lecturer and Head of the Private Law Department at the GIMPA Faculty of Law, delivered via Zoom, the third edition of the GIMPA Law and Ethics Web Series on the theme: ‘COVID-19 and New Crime Trends’. This session was moderated by Mrs. Maame Yaa Akyiaa Barnes,...
Introduction The venerable Lord Denning in his seminal book, the Closing Chapter, Butterworth’s, 1983 at page 93 on the legislative approach or purposive approach in the construction of statutes as: “…..The judges ought not to go by the letter of the statute. They ought to by the spirit of it. As to what is meant by...