Ghana Must Lend, Not Only Borrow Law - Prof. Atupare Launches New Legal Books
Ghana Must Lend, Not Only Borrow Law - Prof. Atupare Launches New Legal Books
Ghana Must Lend, Not Only Borrow Law – Prof. Atupare Launches New Legal Books
Story by Fada Amakye
A new push to deepen Ghana’s own legal scholarship has been launched at the University of Ghana School of Law.
Prof. Peter Atudiwe Atupare, Co-Editor of Administrative Law in Ghana and Editor-in-Chief of the Ghana Supreme Court Review, said Ghana must stop relying only on foreign law and develop its own.
“A nation that cannot write its own laws will forever borrow its own deeds back from others and pay interest on the loan. Our vision is that Ghana should lend, not wholly borrow,” he said.
He explained that the two new publications are instruments to achieve that vision.
The first, the Ghana Supreme Court Review, will critically examine judgments of Ghana’s highest court, which shapes elections, rights, the economy and the architecture of the state.
“The Review is not a critique of the court; it is a companion. It holds up a mirror, not a stone. Its purpose is not to diminish our jurisprudence, but to deepen it,” Prof. Atupare said.
The second, Administrative Law in Ghana, is a textbook written from within the Ghanaian legal order to teach students, equip advocates and guide public officials.
“This is scholarship that does not hide in the ivory tower. It walks into the courtroom, the ministry, and the market square,” he said.
Prof. Atupare said the Administrative Law book has 33 chapters, six parts, close to 800 pages and 14 contributors, mostly from the University of Ghana School of Law, with support from Pentecost University and Cardiff University.
He said the work involved long meetings, multiple drafts, and rigorous peer review, including specialist reviewers on administrative oversight, taxation and artificial intelligence.
He thanked his co-editor Mr. Francis Olatoy, research assistants led by Christine Ladson, administrator Madam Susie Lamde, and other contributors for their dedication.
He added that the vision is for a day when a student in Nairobi, a judge in Lusaka, or a school in London or Toronto will reach for a book from Legon to understand how an African constitutional democracy disciplines power.
Prof. Atupare clarified that developing Ghanaian law does not mean rejecting the common law tradition inherited from England, but holding it on terms defined by Ghana’s constitution, history and people.
