Professor Justice Samuel Kofi Date-Dah was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana from 2003 to 2013. Prior to that, he served as a Special Adviser (Legal) at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London for twenty years (1984 to 2003). In that capacity, he was responsible for legal advisory and negotiation services to developing member states of the Commonwealth. Besides legal advisory and judicial components, his career has also included an academic role. Appointed a lecturer at the University of Ghana in 1969, he rose to the position of Associate Professor there and at the Faculty of Law of the University of Nairobi, Kenya, before becoming a full Professor of Law at the University of Calabar, Nigeria, in 1980. He has also held visiting academic positions at Lincoln College, Oxford University, the Yale Law School, U.S.A. and Fribourg University, Switzerland.

He is a former Chairman of the Law Reform Commission of Ghana and a member of the Council of GARIA (the Ghana Association of Reconstruction and Insolvency Advisors). Earlier, he was Chairman of the Council of the University of Ghana from 2009 to 2016. Since retiring from the Judiciary, he has served as an occasional arbitrator.

Professor Justice Date-Bah was educated at the University of Ghana (LL.B, first class honours, 1965), the Yale Law School (LL.M, 1967) and the London School of Economics (Ph.D, 1969). He was called to the Ghana Bar in 1969. He has published extensively on Ghanaian law and international commercial law.

He was elected a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000. In 2015, he was decorated with the Order of the Volta of the Republic of Ghana.

  • Reflections on the Supreme Court of Ghana (Hardcover)

    The book is intended to be a contribution to comparative knowledge on what a final and constitutional court’s role and significance are to governance in a developing country.

    It provides a recently retired judge’s insights into the substantive work and function of the Supreme Court in Ghanaian society and Ghana’s legal and political system.

    The book throws light on the role played by the Supreme Court in the development of Ghanaian law and the laying of the foundation for Ghana’s constitutional democracy. The establishment of a constitutional democracy in Ghana has been an important factor in the nation’s development and the Supreme Court has had an important role to play in this process. It will also be invaluable to both academic and practising lawyers, as well as at non-lawyers interested in the function and operations of the Supreme Court.

    The study of the Supreme Courts of emerging democracies should be given some emphasis in comparative law. It is hoped that the material contained in this book will contribute to the facilitation of such emphasis.

  • Selected Papers and Lectures on Ghanaian Law (Hardcover)

    This book is a compendium containing chapters based on various papers and lectures on Ghanaian law delivered by the author. Its contents deal with a wide range of topics expected to be of interest, not only to Ghanaian lawyers, but also to lawyers in general and other persons interested in the legal process in developing countries.

    The topics include the legal system and legal education in Ghana, the Judiciary, human rights and good governance, and business law.

    The variety of topics treated means that the book can be regarded almost as a mini Reader on Ghanaian law.

  • Law & Religion

    Inaugural Lectures

    Lectures included in this collection are:

    Religion and National Identity: Assessing the Discussion from Cicero to Danquah – Rev. Dr. Kwame Bediako (25 June 1997)

    Private Investment and Law in a Developing Economy: Reflections – Dr. Samuel K. Date-Bah (22 January 2002)

    The Role of the Judiciary in the Establishment of Democracy in Ghana – Mr. Seth Y. Bimpong-Buta (6 April 1999)

    Theology and Culture: An African Perspective – Rev. Peter K. Sarpong (31 October 2002)

    Law & Religion

    10.00

Main Menu