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Commercial Law Reports of Ghana (CLRG) launched in Accra

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In an attempt to assist the Bench, the Bar, academia, the commercial world and readers in general on trade law, a branch of civil law, Commercial Law Reports of Ghana, (CLRG), has been launched in Accra.

In this maiden edition, edited by Godwin Djokoto, twelve cases are reported covering the sale of goods, various aspects of banking such as the failure of bankers to keep customers mandate, anti-money laundering, the effect of spousal guarantees for credit, Know-Your Customer (KYC), improper custody of payment means, reliance on letters of guarantee as security for the extension of credit.

The other cases cover aviation, maritime law particularly the arrest of sister-ships under Ghanaian law and contract law in general.

At the launching ceremony and the auction of the first copies, to the general public the Editor, Lawyer Godwin Djokoto said, the Commercial Law Reports of Ghana has a unique and limited focus of reporting cases of commercial character in the superior courts of judicature and for purposes of convenience, they have adopted the scope of cases of commercial character as defined by Order 58 of the High Court Civil Procedure Rules (C147).

“Therefore, the subject areas of the cases to be reported will include banking and financial services, insurance and re-insurance; carriage of goods by sea, air, land or pipeline; intellectual property rights, tax matters; disputes involving Commercial Arbitration; restructuring or payment of commercial debts; exploration of oil and gas reserves; disputes relating to the formation or governance of a business or commercial organization; winding up or bankruptcy etc”.

According to him, “the cases reported in this edition span almost a decade from 2008 to 2017. In the exercise of our editorial discretion, the Judgments reported here have been carefully selected on a number of criteria including the novelty or uniqueness of legal questions answered, depth of research and clarity”.

He maintained that, “the broader context of the focus of these reports, we also seek to address the growing trend of not reporting High Court Judgments. It is our conviction that Judgments of the High Court form an essential part of our legal heritage and we should strive to preserve them”, with the believe that there are so many excellent and great Judgments being delivered by the High Court and they do not have to lose out on the wisdom, value and benefits of these cases.

“These cases would serve as a useful guide for other courts and binding precedents for the lower bench. Where the Judgments reported in the CLRG are appealed, we will endeavour to report them in subsequent editions”, he promised.

In his remarks, the former President of The Ghana Bar Association and chairman of the event, Lawyer Benson Nutsukpui stated that, the publication of Commercial Law Report (CLRG) marks a new dawn in the accessibility of Judgments in Commercial Law in Ghana stressing the fact that, “this should make it easier for patrons of Commercial Law including Judges, lawyers, law teachers and students to have a first port of call in their search for commercial law knowledge. Secondly, the publication of this Report marks the beginning of specific subject area Reports in Ghana. Prior to the publication of the CLRG, all previous Law Reports in Ghana of recent memory have had wide scope subject areas of law and traversing all manner of subjects both substantive and procedural”.

He charged the Editors and his team to consider other areas of specialization to produce similar Law Reports and also begin to think about adding a periodic commercial law review. … “Law Reports, journals and reviews not only develop the law but bring to the fore the hard work, courage and industry of the legal generation before us”.

Mr. Nutsukpui congratulated the Editor, Godwin Djokoto, and his team of Assistant Editors, Portia Coffie, Robert Henry Gyabeng, Karen Adabia and Samuel Alesu-Dordzie for the great work they have done in editing and producing this Law Report. “anyone who has ever been involved in the process of editing and reporting Judgments will admit that it takes a great deal of effort, attention to detail and deeper understanding of the subject to report same”.

Among the high profile personalities who purchased the first copy was the current Deputy Attorney-General, Lawyer Godfred Dame.

Story by Edzorna Francis Mensah

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