Opinion pieces: Judges
Read opinion pieces from Judges on DennisLaw News.
Opinion
The Concept Of Family: A Vexed Issue In Our Legal Jurisprudence
The article examines the meaning of “family” under Ghanaian customary law, including how family membership and headship are determined, and emphasizes that these questions often depend on the customs and evidence of the particular family. I...
Francis Obiri
Opinion
Stay of Proceedings of A Case: A Legal Gymnastics Tool to Delay Proceedings Before a Trial Court?
The article explains that merely filing a repeat application for stay of proceedings, or an application for certiorari or prohibition, does not automatically halt proceedings before a trial court. A stay only arises where the trial or appel...
Francis Obiri
Opinion
“Agent For Plaintiff”: A Fatal Misnomer; Why Ghanaian Lawyers Are Unwittingly Forfeiting Their Protections Through the Misdescription of Counsel in Ghanaian Civil Procedure: An Analysis of the Doctrine of Solicitor-Solicitor Agency vs. Lawyer-Client Reality
The article argues that endorsing a writ with “Agent for Plaintiff” wrongly treats the lawyer-client relationship as an agency relationship, whereas Order 2 rule 5(1)(b) of C.I. 47 concerns one lawyer acting as agent for another lawyer. It...
Sedinam Awo Kwadam and Kwadwo Owusu-Ansah
Opinion
Revalidating Customary Law: The New Era of Good Title In Ghana’s Land Act
The article examines how Ghana’s Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) expressly recognizes acquisitions under customary law as a source of “good title,” restoring legal certainty to oral customary grants that had been treated inconsistently under earl...
Justice Alexander Osei Tutu
Opinion
Access Versus Standards: The Future of Legal Education in Ghana
The article examines Ghana’s 2026 legal education reforms, arguing that widening access to professional legal training must be matched with strong regulation, transparent bar examinations, adequate teaching capacity, and sustained professio...
Justice Kweku T. Ackaah-Boafo
Opinion
The Rebirth of Legal Education in Ghana: Understanding The Legal Education Act, 2026 (Act 1170)
The article argues that Ghana’s Legal Education Act, 2026 (Act 1170) marks a major transformation of legal education by expanding access, modernising governance, and strengthening professional training standards. It presents the Act as the...
Sedinam Awo Kwadam
Opinion
Time’s Up For Justice? Why Ghana’s Human Rights “Expiry Date” Must Go
The article argues that Ghana’s six-month procedural time limit for enforcing fundamental human rights under Order 67 Rule 3 unlawfully restricts access to constitutional justice. It contends that fundamental rights cannot be extinguished b...
Sedinam Awo Kwadam
Opinion
The Lawyer’s Trial: Why “Lawyer Shaming” Reveals More About Them Than About You
The article argues that “lawyer shaming” is less a valid criticism of the legal profession and more a reflection of insecurity, admiration, and misunderstanding on the part of critics. It defends the dignity of legal practice by highlightin...
Sedinam Awo Kwadam
Opinion
Justice Beyond The Courtroom: Law, Dialogue, and Values in Building A Peaceful and Stable Democratic Society in Ghana
This lecture argues that justice in Ghana must extend beyond courts into homes, schools, communities, and public institutions, where dialogue, fairness, and accountability are first learned and practised. It contends that a peaceful and sta...
Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie
Opinion
Presumption of Innocence Undermined: How Ghana’s 2018 Criminal Disclosure Regime Violates The Rights To Silence And Innocence; A Case For A Two-Phased Case Management Regime in Criminal Trials
This article argues that Ghana’s 2018 Criminal Disclosure and Case Management Practice Directions, though aimed at efficiency, fundamentally undermine the presumption of innocence and the right to silence by compelling premature defence dis...
Sedinam Awo Kwadam
Opinion
From Deforestation To Gas Flaring, Environmental Harm May Now Be Prosecuted As An International Crime By The ICC. Here’s What Ghana Needs To Know, And What We Can Do
The ICC’s new policy recognizes severe environmental destruction as a potential international crime, empowering countries like Ghana to prosecute such offenses. Ghana’s plan to establish specialized environmental courts showcases leadership...
Sedinam Awo Kwadam
Opinion
Beyond The Land Act: Uncovering The Missing Pieces In Ghana’s Land Governance Framework
This article argues that while Ghana’s Land Act, 2020 is comprehensive, effective land governance depends on recognizing and integrating a wider set of related laws. Justice Alexander Osei Tutu examines over 30 enactments that, although not...
Justice Alexander Osei Tutu
Opinion
The Land Act: A Model For Integration Of Customary Law Into A Modern Legislation
Ghana’s Land Act, 2020 exemplifies a landmark effort to integrate customary law into modern statutory land governance by codifying indigenous principles, promoting fiduciary accountability, and ensuring legal recognition of customary intere...
Justice Alexander Osei Tutu
Opinion
The Pretrial Detainee in Ghanaian Civil Litigation: A Constitutional and International Human Rights Appraisal of Order 73 Of C.I. 47 and Order 12 of C.I. 59; A Case for the Expungement of Absconding Warrants from Ghanaian Civil Procedure
This article argues that Ghana's civil procedure rules—specifically Order 73 of C.I. 47 and Order 12 of C.I. 59—violate constitutional and international human rights by allowing pretrial detention of civil defendants based solely on unprove...
Sedinam Awo Kwadam
Opinion
Harmonizing Customary Practices and Statutory Law: The Need to Amend Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) to Recognize and Enforce Customary Offences and Sanctions Across Ghanaian Communities
This article argues that whilst Ghana’s statutory criminal law (via the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) governs codified offences, it fails to formally recognise many customary offences and sanctions entrenched in Ghanaian communities....
Kofi Annan and Nana Adwoa Serwaa Dua-Adonteng Esq.
Opinion
Roses are Red, The Statute is Stale: The Obscenity Debate and Legal Limbo of Sex Toys in Ghana
This article critiques Ghana’s outdated obscenity law under Section 281(1) of Act 29, arguing that its vague criminalization of "obscene objects" unconstitutionally endangers personal rights. It proposes legislative reform to exclude sexual...
Sedinam Awo Kwadam