Germans to help draft Ghana's marriage & divorce law

Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Ms. Gloria Akuffo, has urged the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) to assist in the drafting of a new Marriage and Divorce Law for Ghana.

She asked GTZ to continue to work with the Statute Law Revision Commissioner at the Attorney General's office in drafting the new law. She said the new law must be based on well informed decisions and made with in a participatory manner.

Ms. Akuffo was speaking at a workshop held in Ada Foah in the in the Greater Accra region on Friday to a follow up on priority issues relating to legal pluralism policy in Ghana.

The Ministry of Justice and Attorney General's Department in conjunction with the Legal Pluralism and Gender Project of the GTZ organized it. She said Ghana has a plural legal system with statutory law co-existing with customary law.

Ms Akuffo said the Attorney General and Ministry for Justice realized the need to organise a representative national forum, made up of relevant government ministries, traditional authorities and religious bodies among others to help draft the law and urged participants to come out with useful proposals for a way forward.

Professor Nii Ashie-Kotey, Coordinator of the Land Law Focal area of the GTZ said the German and Ghana governments decided to transform the pilot project into a bilateral one to take place over the next three years adding it would begin in July this year.

He said the two countries would establish an Institute for Legal Affairs that would be in-charge of discussing issues relating to legal pluralism and research as well as provide an opportunity for participatory law making in Ghana.