THE REPUBLIC V. NATIONAL HOUSE OF CHIEFS EX PARTE: NII TACKIE ADAMA LATSE 1 GA MANTSE, ACCRA NII TETTEH ASHONG VI

JUDGMENT

BAAH, JA.

INTRODUCTION

My lords:

1) Hans Kelsen is a prominent figure in legal philosophy (jurisprudence) due to his work, "Pure Theory of Law," which was published in German in 1960 and translated into English in 1967. Central to his work is the concept of the "Grundnorm”, a fundamental theory that represents the norm from which all legal norms in a legal system derive their validity. The Grundnorm serves as the foundational principle, which Kelsen referred to as the “first principle," from which the entire legal order, including the constitution, statutes, and judicial precedents, derives its legitimacy (sourced from: https://www.lsd.law).

In Ghana, the reality of a colonial past, combined with a largely borrowed legal system (common law), the “severance” from the colonial past brought about by (political) independence, and the incident of sovereignty, renders the constitution the basic or fundamental law (Grundnorm) that validates all other legal norms in society. The hierarchi…