With no doubt it is widely known that Common legal system and civil legal system are the two major legal systems in the world. Most of the countries in the world practice either one of them that is not to say that there are no other legal systems. Ghana practices the common law system of government which they adopted through colonialism by England. This essay is centred at the major difference between common and civil legal system. And also looking …show more content…
To elaborate more, in an adversarial model, responsibility for gathering evidence rests with the parties – police and defense – and an independent evaluation of that evidence by a neutral judge is left to the trial. In an inquisitorial model, criminal investigation, at least in serious cases, is typically overseen by either an “independent” prosecutor or an examining magistrate (in France termed a “juge d’instruction”). The prosecutor or examining magistrate can seek particular evidence; direct lines of inquiry favorable to either prosecution or defense; interview complainants, witnesses and suspects; and ultimately determine whether there is sufficient evidence to take a case to trial . The adversarial system applies in Ghana, were by the judges are neutral and the lawyer appear before the court to present their case and …show more content…
The common law consists of received English common law and the doctrines of equity. Ghana’s common law has acquired a meaning far removed from the English common law received into Ghana after Bond of 1844. The doctrine in common law has not been removed completely from the system but has been shaped to fit the values and culture of the Ghanaian citizens this was seen in the case of Re Abotsi; Kwao v Nortey were the court acknowledged the common law. Just as Ghana will continue to evolve, the common law tradition will fade away and the Ghanaian people’s way of live will become the new precedent of the land.
References
Berkeley. The Common Law and Civil Law Traditions. Retrieved from https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/robbins/pdf/CommonLawCivilLawTraditions.pdf
Dainow (1967): Civil Law and the Common Law, p.424, vol. 15. Retrieved from http://www.fd.unl.pt/docentes_docs/ma/wks_MA_22856.pdf
Common Law and Civil Law: A Brief Comparison. Retrieved from www.legallanguage.com/legal-articles/common-law-and-civil-law-a-brief-comparison/
Law commission: Adversarial and Inquisitorial Systems: A Brief Overview of Key Features. Retrieved from