DR. DATE-BAH, J.S.C.
This is the ruling of the Court on the preliminary objection raised by the respondent to the jurisdiction of this Court in this matter. The received learning in Ghana is that a right of appeal has to be conferred expressly by an enactment and is not to be implied or inferred. More generally and historically in the common law world, it can be said that a right of appeal may be conferred by statute or the common law. However, in Ghana, we know of no right of appeal which has been conferred by common law. It is safe to state that in Ghana the system of appeals is governed by the Constitution and statutory law. It is thus entirely to be expected that the Ghanaian courts have not, except in error, attempted to assume any appellate jurisdiction other than that conferred on them by legislation or the Constitution. As the venerable Ollennu JA (as he then was) said in Kuma v. The Republic [1968] GLR 926 at p. 928:
“There is no inherent right of appeal in any one who is dis…