Five books to read before the new legal year

As the legal vacation is drawing to a close, lawyers, judges and other legal professionals would be preparing for a new legal year. Part of that comes with having to read legal texts from various areas of law to ultimately enhance their practice. 

For ideas on what to select, here are five picks to read the rest of September. These are all books that were published in the 2021/2022 legal year. 

CONFLICT OF LAWS BY KISSI AGYABENG AND PROF. RICHARD FRIMPONG OPPONG

Just like how its subject title literally connotes, Conflict of Laws is arguably considered an uncomfortable area for many legal professionals. Often times, text and sourcebook on the subject is lacking on Ghanaian jurisprudence. But Kissi Agyabeng and Prof. Frimpong-Oppong hope to fill this gap with their monograph. 

“The book exposes the need to develop Ghana’s conflict of laws regime as a matter of urgency, since there appears to be little or no jurisprudence on significant conflict of laws questions,” Justice Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu writes in the foreword. Add Daily Graphic link. 

COMMERCIAL LAW IN GHANA: SOURCEBOOK BY CLEMENT AKAPAME AND LOM NUKU AHLIJAH

The sourcebook seeks to treat everything commercial law from the ever-important Ghanaian angle. Authors Akapame and Ahlijah say it started as a project to gather Ghanaian material on commercial law, but now it is a useful reference for Ghanaian lawyers, judges, and law students. 

In her review, Prof. Christine Dowuna Hammond writes: “This book is a timely piece of academic work which deserves high commendations, for it fills the long-standing gap for Ghanaian legal materials in Commercial Law.”

ESSENTIAL THEMES IN LAND LAW AND CUSTOMARY LAW BY JUSTICE ALEXANDER OSEI-TUTU.

Justice Alexander Osei Tutu’s book analyses one of the new Acts in the ‘troublesome’ area of land law. The new Lands Act, 2020 (Act 1036) is recognized as an innovation from the previous Act owing to its progressive features. 

In reviews, Justice Jones Dotse describes it as a 'living and authoritative scholarly work which has put on the surgical table the new Land Act of 2020 (Act 1036) in relation to the practice of the law in the Courts.’ 

MONETIZING YOUR CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION: AN INTRODUCTION TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY BY MADAM SARAH N. ANKU. 

Intellectual Property Attorney, Madam Sarah N. Anku’s book seeks to ignite the knowledge and consciousness in Intellectual Property, especially among young creatives.

“It introduces the otherwise unfriendly subject of Intellectual Property Rights by using the very popular Ghanaian fictional trickster and god of all knowledge, Kweku Ananse (as sometimes referred to as Anansi) in a conversational dialogue to help the reader explore the concept of intellectual property and its relevance to innovation; how to generate intellectual property; how individuals or businesses can protect their intellectual property, monetize and commercialise it; as well as, enforce their rights in the most practical way possible.”

THE LAW AND PRACTICE OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN GHANA BY JUSTICE Stephen Alan BROBBEY AND VICTOR BROBBEY, ESQ.

ADR advocacy is currently ripe in Ghana. Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin Yeboah, other judges, and practitioners have consistently maintained the importance of ADR in the court system. 

Aside Justices Sir Dennis Dominic Adjei and Frances Barbara Ackah-Yensu’s book, ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution- Ghana Perspective’, another legal text on ADR has been produced. 

The venerable Justice S. A. Brobbey and Victor Brobbey’s book which is legalistic in its nature aims to provide ADR practitioners particularly, with knowledge of the law, in order to properly perform their functions. 

“A significant feature of ADR is that law is the basis of ADR. Ghana formally embraced ADR over a decade ago by the enactment of Act 798, and yet there has been no rules of procedure governing ADR practice legislated by Ghana’s lawmakers. In addition, most practitioners and ADR service providers are not lawyers. 

From the foregoing and several other reasons, the necessity to provide readily available sources of law on ADR and quick reference guides on ADR procedures cannot be over-emphasized. These provided the impetus for writing this book,” the authors said.