Criminal
Criminal Offences Act 1960 with a codified procedure act and an abolitionist turn on the death penalty
The Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) codifies substantive crime and the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act 1960 (Act 30) governs procedure. In 2023 Parliament abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes, replacing it with life imprisonment, though it remains for high treason under the Constitution.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Circuit and District Courts try lesser offences; High Court tries indictable offences with a jury for capital and first-degree felonies.
Governing law
- Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) — Substantive code, much amended.
- Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30) — s.96(7) struck down in Kpebu (2016).
- Criminal Offences (Amendment) Act, 2023 — Abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes; life imprisonment substituted.
In practice
Act 29 is a colonial-era code that has been amended repeatedly rather than replaced. The major recent development is the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Act 2023, which removed the death penalty from the Criminal Offences Act and substituted life imprisonment; because article 3(3) of the Constitution prescribes death for high treason, full abolition requires constitutional amendment, so Ghana is de jure abolitionist for ordinary crimes only. Ghana has had no execution since 1993. Act 30 governs arrest, bail and trial; the Supreme Court in Martin Kpebu v Attorney-General (2016) struck down s.96(7), which had made certain offences non-bailable, holding that the courts must retain discretion over bail. Customary arbitration has statutory recognition for some disputes but not for indictable offences.