Ghana - Amnesty International

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18GHANA: END IMPUNITY THROUGH UNIVERSAL JURISDICTIONNo Safe Haven Series No. 10by nationals abroad.Passive personality jurisdiction. The courts of Ghana may exercise passive personality jurisdiction,which is jurisdiction over crimes committed against persons who were nationals of Ghana at the timethe offences were committed. 72 There appears to be no civil jurisdiction over crimes committedagainst nationals abroad.Protective jurisdiction. The courts of Ghana may exercise protective jurisdiction, which is jurisdictionover crimes against specific national interests of the state such as disclosing a state secret orcounterfeiting an official document. 73 There does not appear to be civil jurisdiction over suchcrimes.(b) does an act outside Ghana which if done in Ghana would constitute the offence of murder, or(c) does outside Ghana an act which if done in Ghana constitutes an offence involving or resulting inthe misappropriation, dissipation or loss ofi. public funds,ii. government property including damage to government property,iii. property belonging to a statutory corporation including damage to the property of astatutory corporation,(d) does an act on the premises of a Ghanaian diplomatic mission which if done in Ghana would bepunishable as an offence,commits an offence as if the act constituting the offence was done in Ghana and may, subject to section 46of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960 (Act 30), be prosecuted and punished in Ghana.”Section 46 of the Criminal Procedure Code states:“Where a person is accused of the commission of an offence at sea or elsewhere out of the Republic whichaccording to the law may be dealt with in the Republic, the offence may, subject to section 118 [statingthat trial proceedings offences committed by aliens in territorial waters must be instituted by the Attorney-General in accordance with the Constitution], be enquired into and tried at a place in the Republic to whichthe accused person is first brought or to which the accused is taken subsequently.”72The Anti-Terrorism Act, 2008 (Act 762) (Anti-Terrorism Act), sect. 5 (1) (c) states:“(1) The High Court has jurisdiction for an act which constitutes an offence committed outside this countryif the act constitutes an offence in this country where(c) the act is committed against a citizen of Ghana”.73Section 56 (4) of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459) provides the courts of Ghana extraterritorial jurisdiction overthe following offences against the specific interests of the state: unauthorised disclosure of an official Ghanaianstate secret; falsifying or counterfeiting an official seal of the Republic or any currency, instrument of credit,stamp, passport, or public document issued by the Republic or under its authority; and any offence against thesecurity, political independence, or territorial integrity of the Republic of Ghana.Amnesty International November 2012 Index: AFR 28/004/2012
GHANA: END IMPUNITY THROUGH UNIVERSAL JURISDICTIONNo Safe Haven Series No. 10194. LEGISLATION PROVIDING FORUNIVERSAL CRIMINAL JURISDICTIONAs discussed below, national courts in Ghana may exercise universal jurisdiction over ordinarycrimes, when committed by foreigners abroad who are employed by the state or a statutorycorporation, if the crime is committed in the course of duty of such appointment. In addition, Ghanacourts may exercise universal jurisdiction over some crimes under national law of internationalconcern, including piracy, counterfeiting, narcotics trafficking, hijacking, trafficking in persons andterrorism. 74 The national courts of Ghana may also exercise universal jurisdiction over some crimesunder international law, including breaches of the Geneva Conventions and their Protocols, slavery,and genocide. However, Ghana courts cannot exercise universal jurisdiction over the following crimesunder international law: most war crimes other than breaches of the Geneva Conventions and theirProtocols, crimes against humanity, torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances andaggression. As noted below, it is not clear whether Ghana courts can exercise universal jurisdictionover some crimes under national law of international concern and crimes under international law,including torture, found in treaties signed by Ghana but which Ghanaian law does not yet define orfor which Ghanaian law does not yet authorize universal jurisdiction. Obstacles to the exercise ofuniversal jurisdiction over crimes under international law are discussed below in Section 6.Definitions. Universal jurisdiction is the ability of the court of any state to try persons for crimescommitted outside its territory when the crimes committed are not linked to the state by thenationality of the suspect, the nationality of the victims or by harm to the state’s own nationalinterests. Sometimes this is called permissive universal jurisdiction. The authority of states toexercise universal jurisdiction is now part of customary international law. Universal jurisdiction isalso reflected in treaties, national legislation and jurisprudence concerning crimes underinternational law, crimes under national law of international concern and ordinary crimes undernational law. When a national court exercises this universal jurisdiction specifically over conductcommitted abroad amounting to crimes under international law or over crimes under national law ofinternational concern – as opposed to conduct simply amounting to ordinary crimes – the court infact acts as an agent of the international community enforcing international law rather than as anagent of the state enforcing national law.Under the related aut dedere aut judicare (extradite or prosecute) rule, a state may not shield aperson present in territory subject to its jurisdiction suspected of certain categories of crimes.Instead, it is required to exercise jurisdiction (which would necessarily include universal jurisdiction74Section 56 (4) (j) & (m) of the Courts Act also provides for universal jurisdiction over trafficking in obscenepublications and interference with an international communications system, canal, or submarine cable, whichcould also be classified as crimes under national law of international concern.Index: AFR 28/004/2012 Amnesty International November 2012
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WHEtHER IN A HIgH-PRoFILECoNFLICt o
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Ghana - Amnesty International

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