Ghana - Amnesty International

66GHANA: END IMPUNITY THROUGH UNIVERSAL JURISDICTIONNo Safe Haven Series No. 105. JURISDICTION OVER CIVIL CLAIMSFOR REPARATIONThere does not appear to be any Ghanaian legislation expressly providing for universal civiljurisdiction, either in civil proceedings or in criminal proceedings. However, as a common lawcountry, Ghana courts can award equitable relief, which includes some forms of reparation, in civilcases and, possibly, with regard to civil claims made in criminal cases. Under the Constitution,English common law, which includes equity, as of independence in 1957, is part of the law ofGhana (see Section 2.1 above).In civil proceedings and in criminal proceedings, the scope of remedies that can be awarded tovictims according to Ghanaian legislation and common law is more limited than the rights of victimsto reparation under international law. Under international law and standards, victims of crimes underinternational law and other human rights violations and abuses are entitled to full reparation,including restitution, rehabilitation, compensation and guarantees of non-repetition. 193 UnderGhanaian legislation and jurisprudence, victims may obtain compensation and restitution in criminalproceedings. Plaintiffs initiating civil proceedings may obtain damages in the form of monetarycompensation. It is also possible that, under the common law, equitable remedies analogous to otherforms of reparation are available, but it appears no court has addressed this issue.5.1. UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION OVER CIVIL CLAIMS IN CIVIL CASESIn contrast to a number of civil law countries and the United States, 194 there is no specific193With regard to war crimes, see, for example, 1907 Hague Convention IV Respecting the Laws and Customs ofWar on Land, reprinted in Adam Roberts & Richard Guelff, Documents on the Laws of War, Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 3rd ed., 2000, p. 67. See also Hisakazu Fujita, Isomi Suzuki & Kantato Nagano, War and theRights of Individuals, Renaissance of Individual Compensation, Tokyo: Nippon Hyoron-sha, 1999, p. 31 (expertopinions by Frits Kalshoven); Eric David 49; Christopher Greenwood 59; Protocol I, art. 91 (Responsibility). Withregard to crimes under international law and other human rights violations and abuses, see, for example, HumanRights Committee, General Comment No. 31, UN Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.13 (scope of Article 2 of theICCPR); Convention against Torture, art. 14; 1985 UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims ofCrime and Abuse of Power, UN Basic Principles and guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparation forvictims of gross violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law (Van Boven-Bassiouni Principles), UN Comm’n Hum. Rts Res. E/C.N.4/2005/35, 13 April 2005; GA Res. A/RES/60/147, 16Dec. 2005; UN Updated set of principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action tocombat impunity (Joinet-Orentlicher Principles), UN Comm”n Hum. Rts Res. E/C.N.4/2005/81, 15 April 2005.194See, for example, Amnesty International, Universal jurisdiction: The scope of universal civil jurisdiction,Index: IOR 53/008/2007, July 2007 (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/IOR53/008/2007/en) (notinglegislative provisions in 25 countries with universal civil jurisdiction, including: Argentina, Austria, Belgium,Bolivia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Myanmar,the Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, United States and Venezuela). InAmnesty International November 2012 Index: AFR 28/004/2012