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Pritzker Legal Research Center


Ghana: International Team Project

Overview

In addition to researching the national (domestic) law of Ghana, you will need to also research Ghana's obligations under international law.

Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice sets out the sources of international law:

The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply:

a. international conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the contesting states;

b. international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;

c. the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations;

d. subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.

Please see the International Legal Research Guide for more detailed information on how to conduct international legal research, including how to find other sources of international law. 

United Nations

The United Nations is the largest intergovernmental organization with 193 member states. There are nine core international human rights instruments along with optional protocols, which can be viewed on the UN Human Rights Status of Ratification Interactive Dashboard

When conducting treaty research, in addition to finding an authoritative full-text copy of the treaty, you will also need to look at its status to determine if Ghana is a party. The Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General Database on the UN Treaty Collection website is the authoritative place to look for this information for the universal human rights instruments such as the ICCPR, ICESCR, CEDAW, etc. 

For assistance with understanding treaty terminology (e.g., signatory, reservation, accession) when looking at status information, please see the UN Treaty Glossary

African Union

Ghana is a member state of the African Union, which consists of 55 member states located on the African continent. The AU, officially launched in July 2002, is the successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) (1963 - 1999). 

Ghana is a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which is the primary human rights instrument on the African continent. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights interpret and apply the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other African regional human rights instruments. 

In addition to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Ghana is also a party to additional regional treaties between African Union member states.

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional political and economic union for which Ghana is a member state. The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice is the judicial organ of the union.