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ACT 792

ACT

OF THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA

ENTITLED

INTERPRETATION ACT, 2009

AN ACT to revise and consolidate the law relating to the operation, construction and interpretation of enactments and for related matters.

DATE OF ASSENT: 31stDecembel; 2009.

ENACTED by the President and Parliament

Interpretation

Meaning of certain expressions

1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, "Act" means an Act of Parliament;

"assent" means the assent of the President under article 1 07 of the Constitution;

"common law" has the meaning assigned to it by article 11

of the Constitution;

"Constitution" means the Constitution of the Republic;

"Court" means a court of competent jurisdiction;

"constitutional instrument" means an instrument made pursuant to a power conferred in that behalf by the Constitution;

"enact" includes to issue, make or establish;

"enactment" means an Act of Parliament, or a statutory instrument, or a constitutional instrument, or a provision of an Act of Parliament, or of a constitutional instrument, or of a statutory instrument;

"executive instrument" means

(a) an instrument specified by an Act of Parliament as an executive instrument, or

(b) a statutory instrument which is of an administrative character or of an executive character and is not an instrument

(i) of a judicial character, or

(ii) of a legislative character;

"instrument" includes a notice, Rules, Regulations, By-Laws or a Proclamation, an order, or a warrant, other than an order made, or a warrant issued, by a Court;

"legislative instrument" means a statutory instrument that is legislative in character;

"President" means the President of the Republic;

"private Act" means an Act for the purpose of affecting or benefiting a particular person;

"statutory instrument" means an instrument made, whether directly or indirectly, under a power conferred by an Act of Parliament;

"statutory document" means a document issued under an Act, other than a statutory instrument or an order of a Court.

Application of this Act

2. (1) This Act applies to an enactment whether enacted before or after the coming into force of this Act, to a legislative measure continued in force by the Constitution, and an instrument made directly or indirectly under an enactment unless a contrary intention appears in that enactment, measure or instrument.

(2) This Act applies to this Act and to an enactment specified in subsection (1) and references in this Act to an enactment so passed shall be construed accordingly.

Application of rules of construction

3. This Act shall not be construed as excluding the application to an enactment of a rule of interpretation or construction applicable to that enactment and not inconsistent with this Act.

Words of enactment

4. (1) The words of enactment shall follow the preamble where there is one, and after the long title to the Act, and the several sections within the body of the Act shall follow in a concise and enunciative form.

(2) In a Bill presented to the President for the assent, the words of enactment shall be,

"Passed by Parliament and assented to by the President".

Public and Private Acts

Public Acts

5. (1) An Act is a public Act and shall be judicially noticed as a public Act; unless the contrary is expressly provided by the Act.

(2) An Act shall bear at the head a Short Title immediately followed by the Long Title describing the scope of the Act.

(3) As soon as a Bill is passed by Parliament, the text of the Bill as passed shall be sent by the Clerk of Parliament to the Government Printer, who shall print four copies of the Bill on vellum paper or on paper of enduring quality and send the copies to the Clerk.

(4) On receiving the copies, the Clerk shall carefully compare them with the text of the Bill as passed and if the Clerk finds the copies to be correct, shall sign on each copy a statement in the form set out in the First Schedule, and shall send the copies so authenticated to the President for the assent.

(5) Where the Bill was passed in accordance with the relevant provisions of article 108 of the Constitution, the Clerk shall, before causing the copies to be presented to the President, submit them to the Speaker who, if satisfied that the Bill was passed in accordance with the Constitution shall sign on each copy a certificate in the Form set out in the First Schedule.

(6) After the assent, the Clerk shall enter on the copies the appropriate number of the Act.

(7) Acts shall continue to be numbered consecutively from the establishment of the First Republic in accordance with the order in which they became Acts, and the numbering shall not begin afresh at the commencement of a calendar year, a new Parliament or any other period.

(8) Each of the copies as assented to by the President constitutes an original copy of the Act and shall be conclusive evidence of the terms of the Act, its number and the date of assent.

(9) The original copy of the Act shall be kept respectively by the President, the Speaker, the Chief Justice and the National Archives.

(10) A copy of an Act, other than an original copy, purporting to have been printed or published by the Government Printer, is prima facie evidence of the terms of the Act, its number and the date of assent.

Provisions in private Acts

6. A provision in a private Act does not affect the rights of a person not specifically mentioned in the private Act.

Application of enactments

7. An enactment shall, unless the contrary intention appears, apply to the whole of the Republic.

References to the President, Republic

8. (1) A reference in an enactment to the President shall be construed as a reference to the President for the time being in office.

(2) An enactment does not bind or in any manner affect the Republic or the rights and prerogatives of the Republic unless it is expressly stated in the enactment that the Republic is bound by it.

(3) This Act binds the Republic.

(4) A private Act shall be construed as containing a saving of the rights of the Republic.

Substantive enactments

9. A provision of an enactment has effect as a substantive enactment without introductory words.

Aids to construction

Aids to interpretation or construction

10. (1) Where a Court is concerned with ascertaining the meaning of an enactment, the Court may consider

(a) the indications provided by the enactment as printed, published and distributed by the Government Printer;

(b) a report of a Commission, committee or any other body appointed by the Government or authorised by Parliament, which has been presented to the Government or laid before Parliament as well as Government White Paper;

(c) a relevant treaty, agreement, convention or any other international instrument which has been ratified by Parliament or is referred to in the enactment of which copies have been presented to Parliament or where the Government is a signatory to the treaty or the other international agreement; and the travaux preparatoires or preparatory work relating to the treaty or the agreement, and

(d) an agreement which is declared by the enactment to be a relevant document for the purposes of that enactment.

(2) A Court may, where it considers the language of an enactment to be ambiguous or obscure, take cognisance of

(a) the legislative antecedents of the enactment;

(b) the explanatory memorandum as required by article 106 of the Constitution and the arrangement of sections which accompanied the Bill;

(c) pre-parliamentary materials relating to the enactment;

(d) a text-book, or any other work of reference, a report or a memorandum published by authority in reference to the enactment, and the papers laid before Parliament in reference to the enactment;

(e) the parliamentary debates prior to the passing of the Bill in Parliament.

(3) Subject to article 115 of the Constitution, a Court shall have recourse to parliamentary debates under subsection (2), where the legislative intention behind the ambiguous or obscure words is clearly disclosed in the parliamentary debate.

(4) Without prejudice to any other provision of this section, a Court shall construe or interprete a provision of the Constitution or any other law in a manner

(a) that promotes the rule of law and the values of good governance,

(b) that advances human rights and fundamental freedoms,

(c) that permits the creative development of the provisions of the Constitution and the laws of Ghana, and

(d) that avoids technicalities and recourse to niceties of form and language which defeat the purpose and spirit of the Constitution and of the laws of Ghana.

References in enactments

11. (1) A reference in an enactment to any other enactment shall be construed as a reference to that other enactment as amended by or under any other enactment, including the enactment in which the reference is made.

(2) A reference in an enactment to a statute of general application or to an instrument made under that statute, shall be construed as a reference to that statute or instrument as it applies to the Republic; and that statute or instrument shall be read with the requisite alteration, modification or adaptation so as to make that statute or instrument applicable to the circumstances.

(3) Where in an enactment reference is made to a provision of a statute of general application and that provision is subsequently repealed and re-enacted without substantial modification that reference shall, if the context so requires, be construed as a reference to the provision as so re-enacted.

(4) A reference in an enactment by number or letter to a Chapter, Part, section, subsection, paragraph, sub-paragraph or other division of any other enactment or a statute of general application shall be construed as a reference to that Chapter, Part, section, subsection, paragraph, sub-paragraph or other division of that other enactment or statute as printed by authority.

(5) A reference in an enactment by number or letter to two or more Chapters, Parts, divisions, sections, subsections, paragraphs, sub-paragraphs, Schedules, instruments or forms shall be construed as including the number or letter first mentioned and the number or letter last mentioned.

(6) Where in an enactment reference is made to a Chapter, Part, division, section, Schedule or form without anything in the context to indicate that a reference to a Chapter, Part, division, section, Schedule or form of some other enactment is intended, the reference shall be construed as a reference to the Chapter, Part, division, section, Schedule or form of the enactment in which the reference is made.

(7) Where in a section of an enactment reference is made to a subsection, paragraph, sub-paragraph or other division without anything in the context to indicate that a reference to a subsection, paragraph, subparagraph or other division of some other section or provision is intended, the reference shall be construed as a reference to the subsection, paragraph, sub-paragraph or other division of the section in which the reference is made.

(8) Where in a Schedule or part of a Schedule to an enactment reference is made to a paragraph, sub-paragraph or other division without anything in the context to indicate that a reference to a paragraph, sub-paragraph or other division of some other enactment or division is intended, the reference shall be construed as a reference to the paragraph, sub-paragraph or other division of the Schedule or the part of the Schedule in which the reference is made.

(9) Where in an enactment reference is made to a statutory instrument or a statutory document, without anything in the context to indicate that a reference to a statutory instrument or a statutory document made under some other enactment is intended, the reference shall be construed as a reference to the statutory instrument or the statutory document made under the enactment in which the reference is made.

(10) A reference in an enactment to a power exercisable, or to a statutory instrument or a statutory document made or issued or an act or a thing done, under an enactment or a statute of general application, shall include a reference to a power exercisable, a statutory instrument or a statutory document made or issued or an act or a thing done, by virtue of that enactment or statute or of a statutory instrument or of a statutory document made or issued under or by virtue of that enactment or statute.

Amending provisions

12. (1) An Act may be amended, altered or repealed in the same session of Parliament.

(2) An amending enactment shall, so far as consistent with its tenor, operate and be construed as part of the enactment which it amends and, without prejudice to subsection (1) of section 11 shall, as from the date on which it comes into operation, have effect accordingly for the purpose of the construction and operation of any other enactment which refers to, or is incorporated with, the enactment which it amends.

(3) A reference in an enactment to any other enactment shall be construed as a reference to the other enactment as amended by a provision, including a provision contained in the enactment in which the reference is made or in a later enactment.

(4) Where an enactment is repealed or revoked and another enactment is substituted by way of amendment, revision or consolidation, a reference to the repealed or revoked enactment shall be construed as a reference to the substituted enactment.

(5) Where an enactment applies another enactment, whether with or without modification, and the applied enactment is subsequently repealed or revoked the applied enactment shall continue to apply according to the terms of the enactment which applies it, despite the repeal or the revocation.

(6) Where an enactment is amended, the Attorney-General ma authorise the reprinting or the revision of the enactment as amended i so far as the reprinting or the revision does not affect the matter (substance of the enactment as amended.

(7) Where an enactment is reprinted or revised under sub section (6) a copy of the enactment as so reprinted or revised shall have the for of law effective from the date of the reprinting or revision if

(a) the date of the reprinting or revision is set out on the copy and

(b) the copy purports to be printed by the Government Printer

Operation of enactments

Long title and preamble

13. The long title and the preamble form part of an Act intended to assist in explaining the intent and object of the Act.

Punctuation

14. Punctuation forms part of an enactment and may be used as aid to its construction.

Headings

15. Titles placed at the head or beginning of a subdivision' of an enactment and notes and references placed before the beginning of a provision are intended for convenience of reference only but may be as an aid to construction of the enactment.

Descriptive words

16. Words in an enactment descriptive of another enactment are intended for convenience of reference only and shall not be used as an aid to the construction of the enactment to which they refer.

Date of commencement of enactments

17. (1) The date of the commencement or coming into force of an Act is the date in accordance with clause (11) of article 106 of the Constitution on which it is published in the Gazette or as otherwise specified in the Act.

(2) The day, month and year of the assent shall be inscribed on an Act and that inscription is part of the Act.

(3) The date of the making of a statutory instrument is the date expressed as the date of the making of the instrument, but where the instrument is made by two or more authorities jointly and is expressed to have been made by those authorities on different dates, the date of the making of the instrument is the last date so expressed.

(4) Where a statutory instrument made by an authority or a person requires the concurrence or approval of any other authority or person, the concurrence or approval shall be formally inscribed on the instrument.

Publication and Commencement

18. (1) An enactment shall be published in the Gazette and subject to section 17, and unless the enactment otherwise provides, shall take effect and come into operation on the date of the publication.

(2) Where an enactment is expressed to come into force or operation on a particular day, or where the enactment is a statutory instrument, on the making of the instrument, and whether that day is named in the enactment or is to be appointed or fixed or ascertained in any other manner, the enactment shall be construed as coming into force immediately on the expiration of the day before that particular day.

(3) Where an Act provides

(a) that it is to come into force or operation on a day or date to be fixed or determined, or appointed by Proclamation, or other statutory instrument; or

(b) that it is not to come into force or operation until a day or date to be so fixed, determined or appointed,

that Proclamation or other statutory instrument

(c) may apply to the whole of, or to a provision of, the Act, and may be issued at different times in respect of that provision, or (d) may specify different dates in respect of different provisions of the Act.

(4) The date of the publication in the Gazette of an enactment or any other instrument shall be inscribed at the end of the enactment or instrument.

Expiration of enactments

19. (1) Where an enactment is expressed to expire or otherwise cease to have effect on a particular day, the enactment shall, except as provided by subsection (2), be construed as ceasing to have effect immediately on the expiration of that day.

(2) Where a Bill is introduced in a session of Parliament for the continuation of an Act limited to expire in that session and the Act expires before the Bill receives in that session the assent and is published in the Gazette, then, subject to subsection (3), that Act shall be deemed to have continued as fully and effectively in operation as if the Bill had received the assent and been published in the Gazette before the Act expired.

(3) Subsection (2) shall not operate so as to render a person liable under the provisions of an Act which has expired to a penalty or forfeiture by reason of an act done by that person before the date on which the Bill for the continuance of that Act receives the assent and is published in the Gazette.

Exercise of powers before commencement

20. Where an enactment is not in force and it contains provisions conferring power to make Regulations or to do any other thing, that power may, for the purpose of making the enactment effective on its commencement, be exercised at any time before its commencement but Regulations so made or a thing so done does not have an effect until the commencement of the enactment, except in so far as may be necessary to make the enactment effective on its commencement.

Statutory functions

21. (1) Where an enactment confers a power or imposes a duty, the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed, as occasion requires.

(2) Where an enactment confers a power to make a statutory instrument, the power shall be construed as including a power, exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like consent and conditions, to amend, alter, rescind, or revoke that statutory instrument and to make other statutory instruments.

(3) Where a power is given to a person or an authority to do an act or a thing, or enforce the doing of an act or a thing, that power includes any other powers that are reasonably necessary to enable that person or authority to do that act or thing, or enforce the doing of that act or thing, or are incidental to the doing or enforcement of that act or thing. .

(9) One statutory instrument may be made under powers variously expressed as powers to make Rules, Regulations or any other different descriptions of legislative instrument or under powers variously expressed as powers to make orders, or give directions or any other different descriptions of executive instrument, and the provisions of the instrument may be described as being of one of those descriptions.

(10) Subsection (11) shall apply in relation to a power expressed merely as a power to make a legislative instrument or an executive instrument as it applies in relation to a power expressed as a power to make a particular description of legislative instrument or executive instrument.

(11) Subsections (8), (9) and (10) do not authorise the making of a legislative instrument partly under a power to make an executive instrument or the making of an executive instrument partly under a power to make a legislative instrument.

Errors and omissions

22. (1) Where an enactment confers a power or imposes a duty on a person to do an act or a thing of an administrative or executive character or to make an appointment, the power or duty may be exercised or performed in order to correct an error or omission in a previous exercise of the power or the performance of the duty.

(2) The substantive rights of, or the procedures for redress by, a person who has suffered loss or damage or is otherwise aggrieved as a result of an omission or error corrected as is referred to in subsection (1) shall not be affected as a result of the correction of that omission or error and an investigation, a legal proceeding or a remedy in respect of a right, a privilege, an obligation or a liability shall continue as if the omission or error had not been corrected.

Provisions as to holders of offices

23. (1) Words in an enactment which authorise the appointment of a person to an office confer, in addition, on the authority in whom the power is vested,

(a) a power, at the discretion of the authority, to remove or suspend that person;

(b) a power, exercisable in the manner and subject to the like consent and conditions applicable to the appointment,

(i) to reappoint or reinstate that person,

(ii) to appoint any other person, whether substantively or in an acting capacity, and judicially noticed, and shall authenticate a document to which it is affixed and attested in accordance with the law applicable to the attestation of documents;

(iii) the right to acquire and hold real or personal property for the purposes for which the corporation is constituted and to dispose of or charge that property;

(iv) the right to regulate its own procedure and business; and

(v) the right, subject to article 195 of the Constitution, to employ the necessary staff for the performance of its functions;

(b) to vest in a majority of the members of that body corporate the power, subject to a quorum fixed by the enactment under which it is established or by the relevant regulations or rules to bind the other members of that body corporate, but in an important matter or question which has financial implications the quorum shall not be less than two-thirds of the members of the governing body of that body corporate; and

(c) to exempt from personal liability for the debts, obligations or acts of that body which are not offences committed by that body corporate, the members who do not contravene the provisions of the enactment under which that body is established.

(2) Subsection (1) is subject to the operation of article 88 of the Constitution and does not

(a) prevent additional powers being conferred by an enactment on that body; or

(b) prevent the powers conferred by the subsection being limited by an enactment; or

(c) prejudice or affect the liability of a member of that body to be surcharged with the payment of an amount which may be disallowed in the accounts of that body by an auditor whether acting in pursuance of an enactment or otherwise.

Offences and penalties

25. (1) Where an act or omission constitutes an offence under two or more enactments or under an enactment or at common law, the offender is liable to be prosecuted and punished under either or any of those enactments or at common law, but shall not be punished twice for the same offence.

(2) Where an offence under an enactment is committed by a body corporate, and the body corporate is convicted, the director, the general manager, the secretary or any other senior officer of that body corporate shall be deemed to have also committed that offence.

(3) A person shall not be convicted of an offence pursuant to subsection (2) where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that, having regard to the nature of the offence,

(a) that person did not consent to, or did not connive at, the commission of the offence, or

(b) that person did exercise the degree of reasonable diligence as ought in the circumstances to have been exercised to prevent the commission of the offence.

(4) For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), a body corporate includes a firm or partnership and those subsections shall be construed accordingly in the case of a firm or a partnership.

(5) Subsections (2) and (3) shall not operate so as to affect the liability of the members of the body corporate.

(6) A person shall not be charged under subsection (2) except with the prior consent in writing of the Attorney-General.

(7) An enactment creating criminal liability for an act or omission which, apart from that enactment, would give rise to a civil liability shall not operate to prejudice the civil liability.

(8) Subsection (7) shall not be construed as excluding the application of a rule of law which restricts the right to take civil proceedings in respect of an act or omission which constitutes a criminal offence.

(9) Where an enactment provides a punishment for an offence against the enactment, the offence is punishable by a punishment not exceeding that provided in the enactment.

(10) Where an enactment creates an offence, an attempt to commit that offence is an offence under the enactment and the attempt is punishable as if the offence itself had been committed.

(11) Where under an enactment an animal or a thing

(a) is or is ordered by a competent authority to be confiscated or forfeited, the forfeiture sha1l be to the Republic;

(b) ordered or deemed to be forfeited is sold, the net proceeds of the sale shall be paid into and form part of the Consolidated Fund.

(12) Subsection (11) shall not prejudice an enactment under which the whole or a part of a forfeiture or the proceeds of a forfeiture is, or are, recoverable by a person or may be granted by an authority to a person.

(13) A fine or pecuniary penalty imposed by or under an enactment shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund in accordance with article 160 of the Constitution.

(14) Where in an enactment an offence is declared to be triable on indictment or summarily, the procedure in respect of the trial, the punishment for the offence, the recovery of the penalty and the matters incidental to, or arising out of the trial and punishment of the offence or the recovery of the penalty, shall be in accordance with the law relating to the trial of offences on indictment or the trial of summary offences.

(15) Where in an enactment an offence is provided and a provision is not made as to whether the offence is triable summarily or on indictment the offence shall be triable summarily.

Fines expressed as penalty units

26. The imposition of a fine as a penalty for the contravention of a provision in the enactment, shall be expressed in terms of a number of penalty units.

Pecuniary value of a penalty unit

27. (1) For the purposes of section 26 one penalty unit is equivalent to the amount of cedis specified in the Second Schedule.

(2) The Attorney-General may, by legislative instrument, amend the Schedule.

Procedures of Courts Rules of procedure of courts and tribunals

28. (1) Subject to clause (2) of article 157 of the Constitution, where an enactment confers jurisdiction on a Court or a tribunal or extends or varies that jurisdiction, the authority having power to make Regulations, Rules or Orders regulating the practice and procedure of that Court or tribunal may make the Regulations, Rules or Orders that appear to the authority to be necessary for regulating the practice and procedure of that Court or tribunal in the exercise of the jurisdiction so conferred, extended or varied, and it shall not be necessary for any other enactment to confer power on the authority to make Regulations, Rules or Orders for these purposes.

(2) An authority empowered to make Regulations, Rules or Orders regulating the practice and procedure of a Court or a tribunal shall not, in the exercise of that power, make without the concurrence of the Minister responsible for Finance an order which

(a) directs money to be paid out of, or into the Consolidated Fund, or

(b) prescribes or alters cou11 fees.

(3) The validity of Regulations, Rules or Orders made pursuant to subsection (1) shall not in proceedings in a Court or a tribunal be impugned by the Court or the tribunal or by a pa11y to the proceedings on the ground only that the concurrence of the Minister responsible for Finance has not been given or is not expressed to have been given.

Service of documents

29. (1) Where an enactment authorises or requires a document to be served by post that document shall be sent by registered post to the person on whom the document is to be served at that person's last known place of abode or business.

(2) Where an enactment authorises or requires a document to be served on a person without directing it to be served in a particular manner the service of that document may be effected

(a) by personal service; or

(b) by post in accordance with subsection (1); or

(c) by leaving it with an adult person at that person's usual or last known place of abode, occupation, vocation or business; or

(d) in the case of a corporate body or of an association of persons, whether incorporated or not, by delivering it to the secretary or clerk of the body corporate or association at the registered or principal office of the body corporate or association or serving it by post on the secretary or clerk at that office; or

(e) where it is not practicable after reasonable enquiry to ascertain the name or address of an owner, a lessee, or an occupier of premises on whom the document ought to be served, by addressing the document to that person by the description of "owner" or "lessee" or "occupier" of the premises (naming them) to which the document relates, and .

(i) by delivering it to an adult person on the premises,

(ii) by affixing it, or a copy of it, to a conspicuous part of the premises if an adult person is not on the premises to whom it can be delivered.

Deviation in forms

30. Where a form is prescribed or specified by an enactment, deviations from that form not materially affecting the substance and not calculated to mislead shall not invalidate the form used.

Oaths, affirmations and declarations

31. (1) Where an enactment authorises or requires evidence to be taken on oath, or authorises or directs an oath to be made, taken or administered, the oath may be administered, and a certificate or acknowledgement of it having been made, taken or administered may be given by a person authorised by the enactment to take the evidence or by a judge of a Court or a notary public, or a commissioner for oaths or a person so authorised by any other enactment.

(2) In an enactment the word "oath" or "affidavit" includes an affirmation or a declaration.

(3) A reference in an enactment to a statutory declaration shall be construed as a reference to a declaration made

(a) by virtue of the enactment relating to statutory declarations; or

(b) under the enactment relating to the taking of evidence where the declaration is made before the appropriate competent authority.

(4) A power conferred by an enactment upon a person to administer an oath or an affirmation, or to take an affidavit or a declaration, may be exercised by a notary public or a commissioner for oaths.

(5) Where by an enactment power is conferred to require evidence to be given on oath otherwise than in a Court, the power includes a power to administer an oath or take an affidavit or statutory declaration.

Repeals Cessation of operation of enactments

32. Where in an enactment it is declared that the whole or a part of any other enactment is to cease to have effect, that other enactment shall be deemed to have been repealed to the extent to which it is so declared to cease to have effect.

Repeals and revocations

33. The repeal or revocation of an enactment which provides for a textual insertion in any other enactment or amends any other enactment by operation of law shall not affect the insertion or amendment and the text of the altered enactment shall continue to stand as altered despite the repeal or revocation.

Effect of repeal

34. (1) Where an enactment repeals or revokes an enactment, the repeal or revocation shall not, except as in this section otherwise provided,

(a) revive an enactment or a thing not in force or existing at the time at which the repeal or revocation takes effect;

(b) affect the previous operation of the enactment that is repealed or revoked, or anything duly done or suffered under the enactment;

(c) affect a right, a privilege, an obligation or a liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the enactment that is repealed or revoked;

(d) affect an offence committed against the enactment that is repealed or revoked, or a penalty or a forfeiture or a punishment incurred in respect of that offence; or

(e) affect an investigation, a legal proceeding or a remedy in respect of a right, a privilege, an obligation, a liability, a penalty, a forfeiture or a punishment;

and the investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced, and the penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be imposed, as if the enactment had not been repealed or revoked.

(2) Subsection (l) does not authorise the continuance in force after the repeal or revocation of an enactment or of an instrument made under that enactment.

(3) Where an enactment expires, lapses or otherwise ceases to have effect, this section shall apply as if that enactment had then been repealed or revoked.

(4) The inclusion in the repealing provisions of an enactment of an express saving with respect to the repeals affected by the inclusion does not prejudice the operation of this section with respect to the effect of those repeals.

Effect of substituting enactment

35. (1) Where an enactment repeals or revokes and re-enacts, with or without modification, an enactment, a reference in any other enactment or statutory document to the enactment so repealed or revoked shall, without prejudice to the operation of subsections (2) and (3), be construed as a reference to the enactment as re-enacted.

(2) Where an enactment repeals or revokes an enactment, in this subsection and in subsection (3) referred to as the "old enactment", and substitutes, by way of amendment, revision or consolidation with any other enactment,

(a) a person acting under the old enactment shall continue to act as if appointed under the enactment so substituted;

(b) a bond or a security given by a person appointed under the old enactment remains in force and the books, papers and things used or made under the old enactment shall continue to be used so far as is consistent with the enactment that is substituted;

(c) a proceeding taken under the old enactment shall be continued under and in conformity with, the enactment so substituted, so far as it may be done consistently with the substituted enactment;

(d) in the recovery or enforcement of penalties and forfeitures incurred, and in the enforcement of rights, existing or accruing under the old enactment, or in any other proceeding under the old enactment, the procedure established by the enactment so substituted shall be followed so far as it can be adapted; and

(e) where a penalty, a forfeiture or a punishment is reduced or mitigated by a provision of the enactment so substituted, the penalty, forfeiture or punishment, if imposed or awarded after the repeal or revocation, shall be. reduced or mitigated accordingly.

(3) In addition to subsection (2), where an enactment repeals or revokes an enactment and substitutes by ,«ay of amendment, revision or consolidation, another enactment,

(a) the statutory instruments or statutory documents made, issued, confirmed or granted under the old enactment and the decisions, authorisations, directions, consents, applications, requests or things made, issued, given or done under the old enactment

(i) which are in force at the commencement of the enactment that is substituted, and

(ii) which are not inconsistent with the enactment that

is substituted,

shall have the like effect and the like proceedings may be had on and in respect of the enactment as if they had been made, issued, confirmed or granted or made, issued, given or done under the corresponding enactment that is substituted; and

(b) a reference to the old enactment in an unrepealed or unrevoked enactment shall,

(i) in relation to a subsequent transaction, matter or thing, be construed as a reference to so much of the enactment that is substituted as relates to the same subject-matter as the old enactment; and,

(ii) if nothing in the enactment that is substituted relates to the same subject-matter, the old enactment shall stand good, and be read and construed as unrepealed or unrevoked where it is necessary to support, maintain or give effect to the unrepealed or unrevoked enactment.

Enactments always speaking Enactment always speaking

36. An enactment shall be construed as always speaking and anything expressed in the present tense shall be applied to the circumstances as they occur, so that effect is given to each enactment according to its true spirit, intent and meaning.

Expressions in statutory instruments

37. (1) Where an enactment confers a power to make a statutory instrument or issue a statutory document, unless a contrary intention appears,

(a) expressions used in the statutory instrument or statutory document have the same respective meaning as in the enactment; and

(b) the expression "Act" if used in the statutory instrument or statutory document shall be construed as referring to the Act under which the instrument is made or the document is issued.

Application of definitions

Applications of interpretation provisions

38. (1) Definitions or rules of interpretation contained in an enactment apply to the construction of the provisions of the enactment which contains those definitions or rules of interpretation.

(2) An interpretation section or provision contained in an enactment shall be read and construed as being applicable,

(a) only if the contrary intention does not appear in the enactment; and

(b) to the enactments relating to the same subject-matter, unless a contrary intention appears in the enactment.

Parts of speech

39. Where a word is defined in an enactment, other parts of speech and grammatical variations of that word and cognate expressions shall have corresponding meanings in that enactment.

Names commonly used

40. In an enactment, a name commonly applied to a country, place, government department, body, corporation, society, Minister, officer, functionary, person, party, statutory provision, or other thing means the country, place, government department, body, corporation, society, Minister, officer, functionary, party, statutory provision or thing to which the name is commonly applied, whether or not the name is the formal or an abbreviated form of designation.

Rules as to number and gender

41. (1) Words in an enactment importing

(a) male persons include female persons; and (b) female persons include male persons.

(2) Words in an enactment importing persons include male and female persons, corporations, whether aggregate or sole, and unincorporated bodies of persons.

(3) A reference in an enactment to a party aggrieved includes a reference to a body corporate in a case where that body corporate is a party aggrieved.

Construction of shall and may

42. In an enactment the expression "may" shall be construed as permissive and empowering, and the expression "shall" as imperative and mandatory.

Distances

43. In the measurement of a distance for the purposes of an enactment, the distance shall be measured in a straight line on a horizontal plane.

Time

44. (l) In an enactment, words relating to time and references to a point in time shall be construed as relating or referring to Greenwich Mean Time.

(2) Where in an enactment a period of time is expressed to begin on a particular day, that day shall be included in the period.

(3) Where in an enactment a period of time is expressed to be reckoned from or after a particular day, that day shall not be included in the period.

(4) Subject to subsection (7), where in an enactment a period of time is expressed to end on, or to be reckoned to, a particular day, that day shall be included in the period.

(5) Where the time limited by an enactment for the doing of a thing expires or falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, the time shall extend to and the thing may be done on, the first following day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday.

(6) Where in an enactment a thing is required to be done on a particular day, then, if that day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, the thing shall be considered as duly done if it is done on the first following day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday.

(7) Where a period of time prescribed by an enactment for the doing of a thing does not exceed five days, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays shall not be included in the computation of the period.

(8) Where by an enactment a period of time is expressed as "clear days" or is qualified by the term "at least", both the first day and the last day shall be excluded from the computation of the period.

(9) In an enactment,

(a) a reference to midnight, in relation to a particular day, shall be construed as a reference to the point of time at which that day ends;

(b) a reference to a week-day shall be construed as a reference to a day that is not a Saturday or a Sunday;

(c) a reference to a month shall be construed as a reference to a calendar month;

(d) a reference, without qualification, to a year, shall be construed as a reference to a period of twelve months as specified in the enactment.

(10) For the purposes of an enactment, a person shall be regarded as having attained a given age at the beginning of the day on which the anniversary of the birth of that person occurs and not on the previous day.

(11) In an enactment, the expression "public holiday" means a day that under the enactment or other law is, or is declared to be, or is proclaimed as, a public holiday.

(12) An enactment requiring or authorising the doing of a thing but not prescribing or limiting the period within which that thing is to be done, or may be done, shall be construed as requiring or authorising that thing to be done within a reasonable time and with the requisite convenient speed and not otherwise.

(13) Subsections (1) and (2) shall have effect in relation to deeds and other legal instruments as they have effect in relation to an enactment.

Statutory boards

45. (1) The functions of a statutory board shall not be affected by a vacancy in the membership of that statutory board.

(2) A power conferred by or under an enactment on an authority or a person to appoint the members of a statutory board includes,

(a) the power to appoint the chairperson of the statutory board, and

(b) the power to appoint an individual person as an alternate member to act in the place of the member in respect of whom the alternate appointment is made.

(3) An alternate member when acting in that capacity shall have and perform the functions of the member in whose place the alternate appointment is made.

(4) An authority or a person empowered by or under an enactment to appoint or designate a person to be a member of a statutory board or to perform any other function may

(a) appoint or designate a person by name, or

(b) appoint or designate a person by reference to an office; and the person so appointed or designated may perform the function in respect of which the appointment or designation is made.

(5) A person is qualified to be appointed as a member of, or to continue in office as a member of, a statutory body or the governing body of a public corporation only if that person

(a) is a citizen;

(b) has not been adjudged or otherwise declared

(i) bankrupt under any law and has not been discharged, or

(ii) to be of unsound mind or is detained as a criminal lunatic under any law;

(c) has not been convicted

(i) for high crime under the Constitution or high treason or treason or for an offence involving the security of the Republic, fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude, or

(ii) for any other offence punishable by death or by a sentence of not less than ten years imprisonment; (d) has not been found by the report of a commission or a committee of inquiry to be incompetent to hold public office; or

(e) is not a person in respect of whom a commission or committee of inquiry has found that while being a public officer had acquired assets unlawfully or defrauded the Republic or misused or abused the powers of office, or willfully acted in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the Republic, and the findings have not been set aside on appeal or judicial review;

(f) is not under a sentence of death or other sentence of imprisonment imposed upon that person by a Court; or

(g) is not otherwise disqualified by law.

(6) In addition to subsection (5), a member of the statutory body or the governing body shall cease to be a member if, in the case of person possessed of a professional qualification, the member is disqualified from practice by an order of the relevant competent authority or ceases to be a member otherwise than at the member's own request.

"public holiday" means a day which is by law declared to be a public holiday;

"public interest" includes a right or an advantage which enures or is intended to enure for the benefit generally of the whole of the people of the Republic;

"public office" includes an office the emoluments attached to which are paid directly from the Consolidated Fund or directly out of moneys provided by Parliament and service with a public corporation established entirely out of public funds or moneys provided by Parliament;

"public service" includes service in a civil office of the Government the emoluments attaching to which are paid directly from the Consolidated Fund or directly out of moneys provided by Parliament and service with a public corporation;

"public officer" includes the holder of a public office and a person appointed to act in that office;

"Public Services Commission" means the Public Services Commission established by article 194 of the Constitution; "public seal" means the public seal provided for under article 61 of the Constitution;

"registered dentist" means a person registered as a dentist under the law in force for the regulation of the dental profession; "registered land" means land the title to which is registered under the enactment;

"registered medical practitioner" means a person registered as a medical practitioner or a dentist under the law in force for the regulation of the medical profession;

"Regional Tribunal" means a Regional Tribunal established by article 142 of the Constitution;

'Rules of Court' when used in relation to a Court means Rules made by the Rules of Court Committee established by article 157 of the Constitution to regulate the practice and procedure of the Courts;

"sale" includes exchange and barter;

"service by post" means service in accordance with subsection (1) of section 30;

"session" in relation to Parliament means sessions as defined in article 295 of the Constitution;

"ship" includes every description of vessel used in navigation not exclusively propelled by oars or paddles;

"signature" includes the making of a mark and of a thumb print; "sitting" in relation to Parliament includes a period during which Parliament is sitting continuously without adjournment and a period during which Parliament is in committee;

"Speaker" means the person elected as Speaker by members of

Parliament, and Deputy Speaker means a person so elected.

"statute of general application" means a statute of the United Kingdom Parliament as at the 24th day of August, 1874 applicable to Ghana;

"statutory corporation" means a corporation established by or under an Act of Parliament;

"statutory declaration" means a declaration made in accordance with the law relating to statutory declarations;

"statutory period" in relation to a statutory instrument means a period of twenty-one sitting days or any other period prescribed by the enactment.

"summary conviction" means conviction for a summary offence; "summary offence" means an offence triable otherwise than on indictment;

"Supreme Court" means the Supreme Court established pursuant to articles 125 and 126 of the Constitution; "surety" means sufficient surety;

"unregistered land" means land the title to which is not registered under that enactment.

"vehicle" includes a motor vehicle, a motor cycle, a bicycle and any other carriage or conveyance of any kind used, on land or 111 space;

"vessel" means a ship, boat, lighter or other floating craft used or capable of being used for transport by water;

"words" when used in an amending enactment includes figures, punctuation marks and typographical, monetary, mathematical and scientific symbols.

"year" means a period of twelve months;