Legal Notes

Basic rule was stated in the case of: Bruce v. Quarnor, “A conveyance of land made in accordance with customary law is effective from the moment it is made. A deed subsequently executed by the grantor for the grantee may add to, but it cannot take from the effect of the grant.” Because customary law […]

Two issues arise. First rights of spouses (and children) following a divorce. Second, rights of spouses (and children) following death intestacy of one spouse. a) Upon Divorce Marital property upon divorce could be handled by pre-nuptial settlement or by the court as an ancillary relief after a formal decree of dissolution. Article 22(2) of the

Article 295(1) of the Constitution of 1992 defines a stool as follows: “Stool” includes a skin and the person or body having control over skin land”. A stool may connote a customary community similar to a body corporate headed by a chief, who holds some traditional political authority. It may also connote the symbol of

The meaning of the word family necessarily depends on the field of law in which the word is used; the purpose intended to be accomplished by its use, and the facts and circumstances of each case. First, family could be used to refer to husband, wife and children. Second, family could also refer to a

CUSTOMARY TENANCIES (LESSER INTERESTS) These are interests that can be created by the holders of the allodial title or usufructuary interests. Customary tenancies vary widely from seasonal hiring and renting of land to the sharing of farm produce and even farmland itself. They are used to describe “procedures whereby someone who controls rights of access

Allodial is derived from the German word ‘olod’ or ‘allod’ meaning entire property from which was derived the mediaeval Latin word ‘allodium’ (allodium) which means an interest held of no-one, an absolute or original heritage. The allodial title is the highest quantum of interest or title that can be held and it cannot be extinguished

It has been called the Usufruct, Determinable Estate, Customary Freehold or Customary Law Freehold. In Roman law, usufruct was the right of using and enjoying property belonging to another person provided the substance of the property remained unimpaired or unchanged. In Roman law, a usufruct was not capable of being alienated. In addition, the Roman

Land tenure denotes the various laws, rules and obligations governing the holding and/or ownership of rights and interests in land. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the dominate land tenure system is the customary land tenure. The major characteristics of customary tenure is that the land is regarded as belonging to the whole social group and not to

Under Ghanaian customary law, property may be divided into four classifications: land, that is to say, the soil or earth; things savoring of land such as houses, huts and farms; movables; and intangible property such as medical or magical formulae. Traditional thinking drew a sharp distinction between the soil or earth and the tangible fruits

What is Custom? According to the Black‘s Law Dictionary, Deluxe 9th Ninth custom is ‘is a practice that by its common adoption and long, unvarying habit has come to have the force of law.’ In the quotation of Viner as cited by Allen (1939) and later by Allot (1970), ‘A custom, in the intendment of