CONSTITUTIONAL JUSTICE IN AFRICA: An Examination of Constitutional Positivism, Fundamental Law and Rights in Ghana and Nigeria

This work explores the idea of constitutional justice in Africa with a focus on constitutional interpretation in Ghana and Nigeria. The objective is to develop a theory of constitutional interpretation based upon a conception of law that allows the existing constitutions of Ghana and Nigeria to be construed by the courts as law in a manner that best serves the collective wellbeing of the people. The project involves an examination of both legal theory and substantive constitutional law. The theoretical argument will be applied to show how a proper understanding of the ideals of the rule of law and constitutionalism in Ghana and Nigeria necessitate the conclusion that socio-economic rights in those countries are constitutionally protected and judicially enforceable. The thesis argues that this conclusion follows from a general claim that constitutions should represent a ‘fundamental law’ and must be construed as an aspirational moral ideal for the common good of the people. The argument is essentially about the inherent character of ‘legality’ or the ‘rule of law.’ It weaves together ideas developed by Lon Fuller, Ronald Dworkin, T.R.S. Allan and David Dyzenhaus, as well as the strand of common law constitutionalism associated with Sir Edward Coke, to develop a moral sense of ‘law’ that transcends the confines of positive or explicit law while remaining inherently ‘legal’ as opposed to purely moral or political. What emerges is an unwritten fundamental law of reason located between pure morality or natural law on the one hand and strict, explicit, or positive law on the other. It is argued that this fundamental law is, or should be, the basis of constitutional interpretation, especially in transitional democracies like Ghana and Nigeria, and that it grounds constitutional protection for socio-economic rights. Equipped with this theory of law, courts in developing African countries like Ghana and Nigeria will be in a better position to contribute towards developing a real sense of constitutional justice for Africa.

Diritti sociali e crisi del costituzionalismo europeo [Social rights and the crisis of European constitutionalism]. WP C.S.D.L.E. “Massimo D’Antona”.INT – 95/2012

In the face of what looks like a real impasse of the the line of European constitutionalism, partly due to an orientation of the Court of Justice which tends to favor the protection of economic freedoms over the protection of social rights, two opposing trends occurr. The first amounts to a new "constitutional patriotism"; the second entrusts the protection of fundamental social rights no longer to a single Chart or to a single court but to a multi-level system of protection. A dialogue between the European courts that truly valorizes fundamental rights, however, might be hindered by what someone has seen as a resurgence of the dualist theories, evident in an ECJ’s decision as Kadi.

Unwritten sayings of our Lord /

Mode of access: Internet.

Unwritten history,

Mode of access: Internet.

The unwritten South.

Mode of access: Internet.

Origin, rise, and progress of Mormonism : biography of its founders and history of its church : personal remembrances and historical collections hitherto unwritten /

Indice.

The canon of the Old and New Testaments ascertained; or, The Bible complete, without the Apocrypha & unwritten traditions.

Error in paging: 222 numbered 122.

Compendium of agriculture; or, The farmer's guide, in the most essential parts of husbandry and gardening; compiled from the best American and European publications, and the unwritten opinions of experienced cultivators.

Microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich., University Microfilms [n.d.] (American culture series, Reel 438.11)

Unwritten literature of Hawaii : the sacred songs of the hula collected and translatred with notes and an account of the hula /

Mode of access: Internet.

Presidential government in the United States; the unwritten constitution.

Bibliography: p. [281]-296.

John N. Edwards: biography, memoirs, reminiscences and recollections; his brilliant career as soldier, author, and journalist; choice collection of his most notable and interesting newspaper articles, together with some unpublished poems and many private letters. Also a reprint of Shelby's expedition to Mexico, an unwritten leaf of the war:

Biographical sketch / Rev. George Plattenburg -- Twenty years of friendship / Morrison Munford -- Miscellaneous writings of John N. Edwards (p. 65-180) -- Personal tributes -- Newspaper tributes -- Shelley's expedition to Mexico.

Episodes from an unwritten history,

Advertising matter: p. 109.

Hero tales of the American soldier and sailor as told by the heroes themselves and their comrades; the unwritten history of American chivalry.

Preface signed: J. W. Buel.

Hardtack and coffee, or, The unwritten story of Army life /

Reprint. Originally published: Boston : G.M. Smith, 1887.