Yes. This is Part 3 of this Article. It means we have already done Part 1 and part 2 . You may click on the links in Part 1 and Part 2 to read if you want to go back to understand.   The Marriage by Ordinance is what many people refer to as Church marriage or wedding. It is however not Church marriage as may people call it. It is the marriage by Ordinance.   I prefer this English case law definition of an ordinance marriage which says: The voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others . Hyde vrs Hyde Woodmaansee Lord Penzance [ 1866] LR 1 P&D 130   Ordinance marriage is taken care of under part three of the marriages act, CAP 127. It is the only monogamous marriage recognized by law in Ghana. The parties to this marriage are not allowed to marry any other person. Even though both Islamic Marriage and Customary marriage can be converted into Ordinance marriage, the ordinance cannot be converted into customary or Islamic marriage.

  You may read our Part 1 of the types on Ghanaian Marriages by clicking this link . In this Article, we explore the Customary Marriage.   Customary marriage is the commonest marriage in Ghana because, it is the traditional type of marriage known to the indigens of Ghana and secondly the incidence of this type of marriage by its nature, happens almost immediately upon, the failure to achieve a valid Islamic marriage or a valid Ordinance marriage. Note that, how customary marriage happens differ from one ethnic group to the other. However, there is a broadly accepted legal framework to affirm if there has been a customary marriage or not.   Definition: A union of the man’s family and the woman’s family. It imposes rights and duties upon the two families. The woman’s family gains the right to perform certain rites in certain eventualities and the man’s family also gains the right to perform certain rites in certain eventualities . Justice Ollenu in Yaotey Vrs. Quaye [1961] GL

Ghana recently passed a plea bargain law. This was actually an amendment to the criminal and other offences procedure act in order to allow for plea bargain to happen during trials. This Article seeks to shed some light on the relevant portions of this law and what it means to the ordinary citizen.   First of all, what is a Plea Bargain? This can be explained as a procedure that allows the state (prosecutor) to negotiate with an accused person who is willing to admit guilt so that a lesser punishment would be given to him instead of the full punishment. It can sometimes lead to the accused walking away free. In other words, this law is about “ how to commit a crime and walk home free ”. The term “walking home free” here must be used advisedly. The most critical thing here is negotiation. One advantage is that it helps us reduce the number of persons who are sent to prison for offences that could have been resolved.   It also affords an opportunity for the offender to compensate th

  The Law in Ghana recognizes three types of marriages. These are the Mohammedans Marriage , the Customary Marriage and the Ordinance marriage . Each of these three types of marriages have their own characteristics and features. They all create certain rights and obligations within the marriage and they also have their own unique legal procedures to follow in order to make them valid.   In order to make this reader friendly, the three types of marriages shall be explained in three separate write ups. Feel free to subscribe or follow this blog so that you get notified as soon as the next article is uploaded.   Let me warn that this article does not pretend to give all the features, rights, responsibilities and procedures on all these kinds of marriage as same cannot be contained and still make it reader friendly for the general public. You are however assured that this article will contain key general understanding of the legal status of marriages in Ghana.     We shall b