DODOO v. DODDO
1970
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- Edusei J
Areas of Law
- Matrimonial law
- Family law
- Inheritance law
1970
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The action was dismissed. The judgment discusses the applicability of the English Matrimonial Causes Act, 1950, in Ghana and highlights the need for Ghanaian laws to reflect local social norms.
Action dismissed.
EXTRACT FROM JUDGMENT:
“Connivance is an absolute bar to a petition for a dissolution of marriage and this defence is the creation of the English Matrimonial Causes Act, 1950 which by the decision in Ashong v Ashong (1968) C.C 26, CA. is part of the matrimonial laws of Ghana, though Archer J. (as he then was) held in Gall v. Gall (1965) C.C.195 that the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1950 was inapplicable to Ghana.
I personally fail to understand why in a free and sovereign state like Ghana, our matrimonial laws must be an exact replica of what takes place at Westminster and this is the effect of the decision in Ashong v Ashong (supra). The marriage and divorce laws as well as the laws relating to inheritance in Ghana must reflect the social norms in the community, and the British way of life which is reflected in some of her laws (e.g. Marriage and Divorce laws) is foreign to us. The framers of the constitution of the Second Republic of Ghana undoubtedly had in mind the need for the protection, advancement and welfare of the family which is the unit of society and provided in article 13 that ‘Parliament shall enact such laws as will ensure the general welfare of women and children in our society. It is hoped that Parliament will waste no time to enact marriage, divorce and inheritance laws that will serve as a memorial of our rich culture, and not leave us at the beck and call of the parliamentarians at Westminster who live in a world different from our own.”