Legal Notes

In Act 29 mens rea is captured variously by expressions such as “intentionally” “with intent” “knowingly” “negligently” “unlawfully” “without lawful excuse” “dishonestly” “without reasonable excuse”. INTENT Intent is the commonest form of mens rea. The concept of intent is categorized into two tiers – ⦁ basic intent ⦁ specific intent Basic intent is the first […]

The actus reus may be – ⦁ an act of commission or omission simpliciter ⦁ or an act considered together with the surrounding circumstances – for instance, with respect to the offence of stealing, it is not merely the act of taking an item belonging to another that is prohibited, but a taking under some

Punishment is deemed to be the bedrock of criminal law. there is no exact definition of punishment. However, in an attempt to describe it, punishment enatails the infliction of suffering by a deliberate act of the authority of the State on an offender after he has been lawfully convicted for an offence. INDICES ⦁ Punishment

The criminal law is instituted as a mechanism to protect society and the individual against injuries that humans are capable of, and have shown themselves to be capable of, inflicting on other humans and institutions. The Wolfendon Report in 1957 gave the following as the functions of the criminal law, which seeks to: ⦁ preserve

Injunction may be defined in two broad senses. In the Ordinary Sense, it means an authoritative warning or order, according to Google. In the Legal Sense it refers to a Judicial order restraining a person from acting or compelling a person to act in accordance with the said order. The question has always been whether

Properties acquired by spouses during their marriage are known as spousal properties. They include properties acquired, before and during the marriage. Where it is acquired before marriage, there must be an agreement that the said property should form part of the properties of their marriage. The agreement may either be Express (written or oral) or

There are basically three types of marriages in Ghana recognized by our laws, as some may say. They restrict the types to engulf the Customary Marriage (Marriage recognized and acceptable to a particular community/tribe based on its customs and practices), the Mohammedan Marriage (Marriage in accordance with the Islamic belief system), and the Christian Marriage

The definition of a child, under our laws, is not straight forward. Our 1992 Constitution recognizes this position and could not give us a general definition of a child. Article 28 (5) of the Constitution which covers the rights of children, provides a restricted definition of a child in relation to only those who can

To the extent that a Committee set up by Parliament is a body under the Legislative Arm of the Ghanaian government, and the General Legal Council (GLC) is a body set up by and under the Judicial Arm of the Ghanaian Government, the finding of the said Committee with specific reference to the Petitions by

The word ‘Marriage’ has different meanings according to the laws of a particular country. In most african states, marriage may be defined as a union for life between one man and a woman, or between one man and two or more women, to the exclusion of all others. In the other parts of the world