• Notaries Public Practice in Ghana – The Law, Cases and Materials (Hardcover)

    The book: “NOTARIES PUBLIC PRACTICE IN GHANA – The Law, Cases & Materials”, is the first of its kind by a local writer from and within our jurisdiction, contextualized against the background of Ghanaian jurisprudence, and yet informed by the standards and requirements of global notarial practice. The book sketches the historical origins of the notaries public and commissioner for oaths practice in Ghana, tracing the linkage between the practice here in Ghana and the received English law, the common law, principles and institutions and shows how the legal/notarial professions evolved in the Gold Coast all within the context of English common law and legal institutions.
    At the heart of the book, we see a distinct picture of the NOTARY – who he is; the requirements and qualifications for appointment and enrolment; the “Status of Notaries” as “officers of the court”, “officers of the legal system” and as “accountable institutions”, the implications and obligations arising therefrom this special status, as well as what broadly can be reckoned as “notarial acts”. The material covered includes sources of law for the practice; and the constitutional, statutory legal context in which the notary is required to function to assure the pursuit of justice underpinned by professionalism, ethics, integrity, morality, discipline and accountability.
    The powers, functions, duties and responsibilities of the notary are covered in detail, including the critical responsibility of the notary to prevent fraud, to avoid conflict of interest, to undertake due diligence prior to performing a notarial act; the duty to refuse to act in appropriate circumstances the notary’s duty to keep a register/journal of notarial acts; the notary’s engagements with administration of oaths and affirmations, swearing of oaths/affirmations, the taking of affidavits and declarations; powers of attorney; the notary’s traditional role in the validation of deeds and documents encompassing notarial duty of authentication, certification, attestation, legalization, verification and acknowledgment of deeds and documents; the requirements in the preparation and signing of legal documents; and the notary’s duty in the performance of official acts in commercial transactions.
    The book will be relevant in assisting in the advancement of the cause and development of the Ghana legal system, promote commerce and assure credibility and integrity required in legal documentation requisite in matters including mercantilism, banking, finance, land transactions, etc.; and in the enhancement of administration of justice and the rule of law. In addition, the book has carefully adapted corpus of forms and precedents for the guidance of solicitors and notary practitioners.

  • Companies, Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring in Ghana – The Law and Practice: Volume 1(Companies) -Hardcover

    Edited by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana and an Associate Editor who is a Senior Partner in one of the leading law firms in Ghana, this book is intended as a practical guide for lawyers and other professionals who advise on corporate affairs in Ghana.

    The book can be regarded, in effect, as a sequel to the work undertaken by the Business Law Reform Committee of Experts, set up by the Attorney-General in 2008. Indeed, five contributors to the book were members of that Committee. The Committee was charged with the responsibility of making recommendations for the reform of Ghana’s business laws to ease the doing of business in the country. It decided to concentrate on company law in the first instance. The result of the Committee’s deliberations was the enactment of two important business statutes: The Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992) and the Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act, 2020 (Act 1015).

    After the enactment of these statutes, some members of the Committee considered that it would be helpful to practitioners of company law and administration in Ghana and investors in Ghanaian business, if the insights gained during the Committee’s deliberations were distilled into a practical book, in concert with other Ghanaian company law specialists, with the objective of producing a standard book of reference on Ghana’s corporate law. The Editor therefore invited these members of the Committee and other selected specialists to contribute to this book in two volumes. Volume 1 of this book discusses the law and practice relating to companies in Ghana, while volume 2 will focus on corporate insolvency and restructuring. The contributors hope that the two volumes will together contribute to a better practical appreciation of the framework for doing business in Ghana.

    Volume 1 begins with a chapter on the Concept and History of the Ghanaian Company, followed by a chapter on the Sources of the Company Law of Ghana, and then by a discussion of the Incidents, Attributes and Consequences of Incorporation. The nuts and bolts of incorporation in Ghana are next discussed in the chapter titled the Mechanics of Company Formation and Registration. The Core Innovations in the Companies Act, 2019 and the Office of the Registrar of Companies and its Governance receive attention next. Volume 1 then proceeds to tackle the core issues in corporate law and practice (including: corporate governance and sanctions; raising of capital by companies; reduction of capital; debentures and transfer of debentures; corporate management; requirements relating to beneficial ownership; litigation by companies; protection against illegality, oppression and unfair prejudice etc.) and concludes with a chapter on Piercing the Corporate Veil (Looking Beyond the Legal Persona).

    It is hoped that this book will succeed in making Ghanaian company law and corporate insolvency law more accessible to the professionals who practise it and to even the general public.

  • Court Administration in Ghana: Civil and Criminal Proceedings

    The book contains Fast Track and Automated Court Procedures and Case Management, Essential Precedents and Chamber Correspondence for Lawyers as well as a Directory Location for Courts.

    One of the valuable features of the book is the provision of information on different aspects of court work and procedures unique to specific areas. Judicial Accounting, which is another aspect of the book, is different from the normal accounting duties in other government departments.

    The offers a guide to the clerks and managers of law firms, court registry, provides information on essential precedents, chamber correspondence, law students and other tools lawyers need. No court can operate without successive inputs of court registrars, thus, the book is essential to understanding and managing courtroom matters.

     

  • The Property Law of Ghana

    This book consists of six related but separate parts combined in thirteen continuous chapters of land law. The thirteen chapters are fundamentally concerned with the development of the customary land law through the Ghanaian courts. In the first part, the main concepts underlying land law as well as the general characteristics of land are traced and analysed. The second segment deals with the law relating to interests in land, including modes of acquisition and loss of title. Tenancies and pledges are examined in their own right. Part 3 considers the nature of the customary law family, focusing on the composition of the family, the rights of members and the role of the head of family. In Part 4, rules regarding transfer of interests are considered within the general body of case law. This is followed logically by a consideration of the applicable doctrines of English law in Part 5. The final segment directs analysis at the impact of state legislative activity on customary law.

    The rules of customary law were developed from pre-colonial times. It might be thought that the rules might be full of hoary anachronisms. The continuous decisions of the courts and the full impact of legislative activity have been the guiding hand in steering the customary land law in consonance with social and economic developments. No one argues that the customary law is in need of purgation. Principles derived from English equity jurisprudence have steadily worked their way into customary notions, particularly in the form of acquiescence, introducing equity’s peculiar element of fairness into the relevant customary law rules. Some of the perceived harshness or inadequacy of the customary land law have also been cured by legislation.

    The present work is not a mere rearrangement of emphasis of the land law. I have attempted to bring into one coherent view the ideas expressed by the established jurists. The law we work with is constantly changing. It is constantly between the hammer and the anvil, changed and reshaped by judicial and statutory intervention. New answers are found as problems without judicial precedent press for statutory solution. Where authoritative answers cannot be found for such problems, I have relied on the evidence of actual social practice. Overall this book captures the restlessness of the indigenous law and the constant push for change. Several of the topics that dominated the old texts are receding. Statute law now overshadows many areas of the customary law.

    There is considerable imbalance in the rendering of the customary land law of Ghana. Although this is a book on the customary land law of Ghana, a disproportionate number of both actual examples and case-law are drawn from southern Ghana. It reflects the general lacuna in current literature. This deficiency points to the urgent necessity of prosecuting a similar task in relation to the customary law of northern Ghana.

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