[11:11, 1/21/2021] +233 54 113 6161: WISCONSIN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE
FACULTY OF LAW

COURSE OUTLINE FOR CRIMINAL LAW I

Course Description
The course is designed to satisfy certain requirements of the Bachelor of Laws degree as well
as the Qualified Certificate of Law awarded by the General Legal Council regarding the
knowledge expected of applicants for admission to legal practice. It is designed to introduce
students to the fundamentals of Criminal law in Ghana. It generally navigates the provisions
of Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act. Further, it discusses in reasonable detail the general
theory of Criminal Law and its administration under the rule of law, and deals with the
general principles of criminal law and criminal policy.
Course Objective
When students have gone through this course, they should be able to apply knowledge of the
general jurisprudence of criminal responsibility, the structure of offences and defences.
Particularly, they should be able to demonstrate a satisfactory level of understanding of what
constitutes a crime as well as reasonable level of proficiency in the general principles of
criminal law. Further students should be very familiar with the aims and objectives of
criminal law in the society. Importantly, students should be adequately prepared to write their
LL.B. examinations and pass well.
Course Format
Teaching format will be a combination of lecturing, tutorials, group work and student
participation in discussions. Lecture materials will be made available as much as possible and
students will be encouraged to read in advance.

CONTENT
1. What is criminal law, crime?
a. The concept of crime

b. Definition, nature and characteristics

c. Aims and functions of criminal law

d. Principles of legality
e. Relationship between morality and crime

f. Classification of crimes

Criminal liability of a company and an unincorporated association.

2. Sources of Criminal Law in Ghana

3. Customary Law offences /Common Law Offences

4. Burden of Proof in Criminal matters

a. Prescription in Criminal Matters

b. Double jeopardy rule

c. Plea of Autrefois acquit & Autrefois convict

5. Criminal Jurisdiction of Courts in Ghana

6. Theories of Punishment
-Retributive
- Utilitarian

7. Elements of a crime

a. Actus reus
i. Positive acts of commission
- The concept of automatism
- Sane automatism
- Insane automatism
- Self-induced automatism
ii. Acts of omission
- Statutes
- Contract
- Creation of dangerous situations
- Voluntarily incurred obliged

b. Mens rea
i. Intention
ii. Knowledge
iii. Negligence
iv. Willful
v. Recklessness
vi. Purposeful

8. Causation
a. General rules on Causation
b. Rules on Causation under Act 29
c. Special Provisions in relation to Murder
d. Exceptions to causing an event

9. Defences in Criminal Law

a. Exemptions from Criminal liability: infancy, intoxication, insanity, insane delusion

b. Partial defences: provocation, excess of justified harm, legal duty, lactation, puerperal
psychosis
c. Total defences: Consent, mistake of fact, mistake of law, claim of right, justifiable use
of force, necessity, accident, duress, automatism, etc

10. Elements of Criminal Procedure

a. The Attorney General and his functions
b. Rights of an Accused person
c. Methods of instituting criminal proceedings
d. Arrest
e. Written Statements
f. Bail
g. The trial
h. Forms of punishment
i. Factors taken into consideration when imposing punishment

READING MATERIALS
1. Gilbert Ayisi Addo: Lecture Notes on Criminal Law 1
2. Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29)
3. H.J.A.N Mensah-Bonsu: The General Part of Criminal Law- A Ghanaian Casebook,
Part I & II
4. P.K Twumasi: Criminal Law in Ghana, Ghana Publishing Corp, 1995, Tema Ghana
5. A.N.E Amissah: Criminal Procedure in Ghana, Sedco Publishing Ltd, 1st Edition,
Accra, 1982.
6. E.H Ofori Amankwah: Outline of Criminal Law Lectures, Revised Edition, 2wenty
Third Solutions, 2012
7. Dominic Dennis Adjei: Contemporary Criminal Law in Ghana, G – Pak ltd. 2017
8. Criminal Procedure and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 30)
9. Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459)
10. Evidence Act, 1975 (NRCD 323)
11. 1992 Constitution of Ghana
12. David Ormerod: Smith and Hogan’s Criminal Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford
UK, 2011.
13. Nicola Padfied: Criminal Law, Oxford University Press, 8th Edition, Oxford UK,
2012.
14. Andrew Ashworth: Principles of Criminal law, 5th Edition, Oxford University Press,
Oxford UK, 2006
15. Russell Heaton: Criminal Law, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, Oxford UK,
2006