This note will discuss the meaning of legal method and the scope of the course on legal method, often taught together with legal systems.
This note discusses the positivist, natural law, Marxist, and realist theories of law
This note will discuss the formalist and realist theories of judicial decision making. In doing so, the note will explore the meaning of these theories, their key propositions, and common criticisms.
One of the tasks of judges is to interpret the meaning of words or provisions in statutes or Acts of Parliament. This note provides an overview of statutory interpretation by discussing its purpose, when statutory interpretation is necessary, jurisdiction to interpret statutes, primary law governing the interpretation of statutes in Ghana, and how the courts generally interpret statutes.
Over the years, the courts have developed rules to guide them in the interpretation of statutes. These rules, known as the rules of interpretation, are the literal rule, the golden rule, the mischief rule, and the purposive approach, all of which are discussed in this note. Before discussing these rules, we will first discuss the basis (or purpose served) by these rules and the fact that they are simply guides and non-binding.
This note will discuss the meaning of internal aids to interpretation and the various internal aids to interpretation such as the long title of the statute, marginal notes, headings, schedule, punctuation, interpretation or definition sections, and provisos.
This note will discuss the meaning of external aids to interpretation and highlight examples of external aids to interpretation.