Introduction On the Republic Day last year, 2024, the topic, ‘The Clash of Two Legal Cultures” was deliberately chosen to emphasize how the common law sought to systematically “extinguish” customary law, but our indigenous law prevailed. As we celebrate another Republic Day on Tuesday, we have no option but to pause and reflect on our...
Introduction The Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) of Ghana was enacted on the 23rd day of December 2020 to streamline land tenure system, enhance land administration and promote efficient land management. At its inception, the Act was gladly received by most Ghanaians. Not many would question if it was classified as one of the well-thought-out and...
“If property is indeed a relationship of socially approved control over a valued resource, it has become quite clear that in the Britain of the 21st century, adverse possession of land is a form of control which is no longer socially approved.”[1] Introduction The crux of property law of almost every legal system is adverse possession,...
Introduction Land ownership and possessory rights have always been contentious issues for land law practitioners, and the concept of adverse possession adds a new layer of complexity to these old-age issues. In the words of one researcher, “It would appear that in the arena of problematic doctrines of law, adverse possession carries the trophy in...
Introduction If an act is a nullity, in the eyes of the law, it is treated as if it never existed. At common law, the act is automatically void with or without an order of a court setting it aside.[1] In the locus classicus of Mosi v. Bagyina,[2] Akufo Addo JSC (as he then was),...
Introduction All too soon, the legal vacation has ended paving way for another busy legal year, in tandem with the tradition of our vocation. More often than not, the commencement of every legal year is characterized by the transfer of judges and judicial staff to new courts. The 2024 legal year, presumably, will not defy...
Introduction In 2008, His Lordship Anin Yeboah J.A. (as he then was) in the case of The Republic v. The Arbitration Committee of Mampong Gyase Council, Ex parte Opanin Kofi Twumasi,[1] expressed his admiration for the state of the law on capacity and warned against introducing new vistas into the concept thus: [T]he issue of...
Introduction The principle was laid down long ago under customary law that in matters affecting family property, it is the head of the family who can sue and be sued.[1] During the colonial days, white judges who applied the customary law, propounded that despite the rule, an ordinary member of the family may be authorized...
Introduction The power to alienate and capacity to litigate are cornerstones of the law of Immovable Property and legal proceedings (Civil Procedure). The power to alienate literally enables a person or an entity to transfer or dispose of property, while capacity to litigate, on the other hand, determines who can sue and be sued in...
Introduction “Our word to you does not waver between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. 2 Corinthians 1:18 NLT. The story of capacity is like the Biblical Reuben. In the Book of Genesis, Jacob said these about his eldest son: “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength … unstable as water, thou...