Editing Common law (section)

=== Ghana ===
Ghana follows the English common law tradition which was inherited from the British during her colonisation. Consequently, the [[Law of Ghana|laws of Ghana]] are, for the most part, a modified version of imported law that is continuously adapting to changing socio-economic and political realities of the country.<ref>Obiri-Korang, P. "Private international law of contract in Ghana: the need for a paradigm shift" (2017) p. 8.</ref>{{fcn|reason=What kind of source is this? If a journal article or chapter of a book, what journal/book? What publisher? Make sure it's [[WP:V|verifiable]]|date=March 2025}}<ref>Quansah ''The Ghana Legal System'' (2011) p. 51</ref>{{ISBN needed|date=March 2025}} [[The Bond of 1844]] marked the period when the people of Ghana (then Gold Coast) ceded their independence to the British<ref>See, generally, Benion ''The Constitutional Law of Ghana'' (1962). Boahen, however, submits that the Bond of 1844 is not as important as held by some Ghanaian historians. He further posits that it cannot be the Magna Carta of Ghana or the basis for British rule or law – see Boahen ''Ghana: Evolution and Change in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century'' (1975) 36.</ref> and gave the British judicial authority. Later, the Supreme Court Ordinance of 1876 formally introduced British law, be it the common law or statutory law, in the Gold Coast.<ref>Asante "Over a hundred years of a national legal system in Ghana: a review and critique" 1988 ''Journal of African Law'' 31 70.</ref> Section 14<ref>This states that "the common law, the doctrines of equity, and Statutes of general application which were in force in England at the date when the colony obtained a local legislature, that is to say, on the 24th of July 1874, shall be in force within the jurisdiction of the court".</ref> of the Ordinance formalised the application of the common-law tradition in the country.

Ghana, after independence, did not do away with the common law system inherited from the British, and today it has been enshrined in the 1992 [[Constitution of Ghana|Constitution of the country]]. Chapter four of Ghana's Constitution, entitled "The Laws of Ghana", has in Article 11(1) the list of laws applicable in the state. This comprises (a) the Constitution; (b) enactments made by or under the authority of the Parliament established by the Constitution; (c) any Orders, Rules and Regulations made by any person or authority under a power conferred by the Constitution; (d) the existing law; and (e) the common law.<ref>According to Article 11(2) of Ghana's Constitution, the common law of Ghana shall comprise the rule of law generally known as the common law, the rules generally known as the doctrine of equity and the rules of customary law, including those determined by the Superior Court of Judicature.</ref> Thus, the modern-day Constitution of Ghana, like those before it, embraced the English common law by entrenching it in its provisions. The doctrine of judicial precedence which is based on the principle of ''stare decisis'' as applied in England and other pure common law countries also applies in Ghana.