Ghana Laws

ACTS OF PARLIAMENT ACT

1960 (CA 7)

Section 1-Acts and Bills

The three next following sections shall apply with respect to the form of Acts of Parliament, and the form of Bills shall correspond therewith.

Section 2-Titles

Every Act shall bear at the head a short title immediately followed by a long title describing the provisions of the Act.

Section 3-Words of Enactment

The provisions of every Act shall be prefaced by the following words of enactment, which shall be taken to extend to all sections of the Act and to my Schedules and other provisions contained therein—

Be it enacted by the President and the National Assembly in this present Parliament assembled as follows—

Section 4-Sub Divisions

If an Act contains more than one enactment it shall be divided into sections and if a section contains more than one enactment it shall be divided into subsections.

Section 5-Preparation of Presentation Copies

(1) As soon as a Bill has been passed by the National Assembly the text of the Bill as passed shall be sent by the Clerk of the Assembly to the Government Printer, who shall print four copies thereof on vellum or on paper of enduring quality and send the copies to the Clerk of the Assembly.

(2) On receiving the said copies the Clerk shall carefully compare them with the text of the Bill as passed and if he finds them to be correct shall sign on each copy a statement in the form set out in Part I of the Schedule to this Act, and shall cause the copies to be presented to the President.

(3) If the Bill was passed in exercise of a legislative power expressed by the Constitution to be reserved to the people the Clerk shall, before causing the said copies to be presented to the President, submit them to the Speaker who, if he is satisfied that power to pass the Bill has been conferred on Parliament in the manner provided by section (2) of Article 20 of the Constitution, shall sign on each copy a certificate in the form set out in Part II of the Schedule to this Act.

Section 6-The President's Assent

(1) The President shall signify that he assents to a Bill, or that he assents to a part thereof and refuses his assent to the remainder, by signing on each copy of the Bill prepared in accordance with section 5 of this Act a statement to that effect in the form set out in Part III or Part IV of the Schedule to this Act, as the case may require, and causing the Presidential Seal to be affixed thereto.

(2) Where assent is given to a part only of a Bill the Clerk shall make in each copy of the Bill so prepared and such deletions, such amendments of figures, punctuation and grammar, as may be necessary for the purpose of the conversion of that part of the Bill into an Act; and the Bill shall thereafter be deemed to have been passed as so altered.

(3) A Bill or, as the case may be, a part thereof shall become an Act of Parliament on the signature by the President of the first of the said copies

Section 7-Numbering

(1) Acts shall be numbered consecutively from the establishment of the 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.

(2) As soon as the President has signed a copy of an Act under section 6 of this Act, the Clerk of the National Assembly shall enter on the copy the number of the Act.

Section 8-Original Copies

(1) Where the foregoing procedure purports to have been followed in relation to copies of an Act, the copies shall be deemed to be the original copies of the, the Act and shall be conclusive evidence of the terms of the Act, its number and the date of assent.

(2) The President shall retain one of the original copies and shall cause one each of the remainder to be deposited with the Chief Justice, the Speaker and the Archivist.

Section 9-Publication

Every Act shall be published by the Government Printer as soon as may be after the President's assent has been signified, and shall be so published—

(a) with the omission of the statements contained in the original copies by virtue of sections 5 and 6 of this Act, but with the inclusion of any certificate given by the Speaker in accordance with subsection (3) of the said section 5, and

(b) with the insertion of a statement of the date on which the President's assent was signified.

Section 10-Published Copies to be Evidence

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

Section 11-Commencement

(1) Except so far as may be otherwise provided in an Act, the Act shall come into operation at the commencement of the day following the day on which the President's assent is signified.

(2) A provision in an Act regulating the coming into operation of the Act or any part thereof shall have effect notwithstanding that the part of the Act containing the provision has not come into operation.

Section 12-Citation

The citation of the short title to an Act shall be sufficient to identify the Act.

Section 13-Act may be Amended or repealed in the Same Session

An Act passed in any session of the National Assembly may be amended or repealed in the same session.

Section 14-Evidence of Pre-Republican Acts and Ordinances

(1) The original copies of Acts of the Constituent Assembly prepared under the order of that Assembly, and the original copies of Acts and Ordinances passed or made after 31st December, 1954, and prepared under the Ordinances Authentication Ordinance (Cap. 2) shall be conclusive evidence of the terms of the Act or Ordinance and of any particulars relating to the Act or Ordinance entered thereon.

(2) A copy of any such Act or Ordinance as is referred to in the preceding subsection, being a copy, other than an original copy, purporting to have been printed or published by the Government Printer, shall be prima facie evidence of the terms of the Act or Ordinance and of any particulars relating to the Act or Ordinance appearing thereon.