Ghana School of Law PLC: Criminal Procedure (GLC) study plan
Ghana School of Law PLC: Criminal Procedure (GLC) · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Arrest, search, seizure and safeguards against unlawful detention & Constitutional foundations and fair trial rights in criminal process
Map every constitutional and statutory safeguard against unlawful arrest and detention - the 1992 Constitution provisions on personal liberty, the Criminal Procedure Act (Act 30) arrest provisions, and the Judges' Rules - into a single annotated checklist
Draft, from memory, the elements of a lawful arrest without warrant and identify at least four grounds on which an arrest becomes unlawful
Explain in writing when a suspect must be brought before a court and what happens to the validity of detention if that limit is breached
Distinguish search with warrant from search without warrant and list the categories of lawful warrantless search with their statutory basis
Trace the remedies available for unlawful arrest, search or seizure, including habeas corpus, civil action and exclusion of evidence
Your checkpoint
A two-page arrest-and-search checklist with statutory and constitutional citations plus five worked 'is this arrest lawful?' scenarios answered in IRAC form
Arrest, search, seizure and safeguards against unlawful detention & Bail and remand practice
Compare the constitutional bail entitlement in non-capital cases with the statutory bail regime in Act 30 and identify where the two diverge
Set out the considerations a court weighs in granting or refusing bail and the burden of persuasion for each side
Draft a bail application and a written opposition to bail, each with a coherent fact pattern
Explain remand practice: committal for trial, remand warrants, limits on remand duration and the rights of a remanded accused
Identify the consequences of refusing bail unconstitutionally and the procedural route to challenge it
Your checkpoint
A bail application and a written opposition (roughly 500 words each) on the same hypothetical facts, with a short note on which authorities you would cite
Commencement of criminal proceedings, charges, informations and indictments & Criminal jurisdiction and venue of Ghanaian courts
Distinguish the modes of commencing criminal proceedings - complaint, charge, information and indictment - and state which court uses which
Draft a valid charge for a simple offence and one for a compound offence, ensuring each ingredient of the offence appears in the statement of offence
Apply the rules on joinder of counts, joinder of accused and the consequences of misjoinder or duplicity
Map the criminal jurisdiction of the District Court, Circuit Court, High Court and the superior courts of review, including sentencing limits
Determine venue and the rules on transfer of cases between courts
Your checkpoint
A charge sheet portfolio: four charges (one duplicitous charge corrected, one compound offence, one joined counts, one transferred case) with a one-paragraph justification each
Trial procedure, plea, evidence presentation and submission of no case & Preliminary proceedings, case management and disclosure
Sequence a criminal trial from arraignment to judgment and state what must happen at each stage
Explain the taking and recording of a plea, including equivocal pleas and pleas to lesser offences
Describe the prosecution's duty of disclosure and the defence's corresponding obligations
Draft a submission of no case to answer using the applicable standard, and a short written response to it
Explain case-management powers of the court and how they affect adjournments, witnesses and time limits
Your checkpoint
A full trial bundle for one hypothetical case: a plea record, a disclosure schedule and a submission of no case to answer with a response
Trial procedure, plea, evidence presentation and submission of no case & Appeals, review and revision
Analyse the rules on examination-in-chief, cross-examination and re-examination, and identify when leading questions are permissible
Explain the position on hearsay, confessions and improperly obtained evidence in Ghanaian criminal trials
Distinguish appeal, review and revision, and identify which court hears each and on what grounds
Draft grounds of appeal against conviction and against sentence, each tied to a specific error
Explain time limits, leave requirements and the powers of the appellate court on allowing an appeal
Your checkpoint
A notice of appeal with five grounds (three against conviction, two against sentence) and a one-page skeleton argument supporting two of them
Appeals, review and revision & Sentencing, sentencing guidelines and other post-conviction orders
Explain revision and the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court over subordinate courts, with the limits on when it will be exercised
Set out the sentencing powers of each court and the statutory maximum for the offences you have studied
Apply the principles of sentencing - deterrence, retribution, prevention, reformation - to a single set of facts and produce a reasoned sentence
Explain the effect of a guilty plea on sentence and the limits of a sentencing indication
Identify post-conviction orders: compensation, restitution, forfeiture, costs and disqualification
Your checkpoint
A written sentencing judgment of about 800 words on a hypothetical robbery or stealing case, applying the statutory maximum and at least three sentencing principles
Constitutional foundations and fair trial rights in criminal process & Legal ethics, professional responsibility and practice management in criminal litigation
Explain how the fair-trial guarantees in the Constitution apply at each stage of the process you have studied
Identify the ethical duties of the prosecutor - disclosure, avoiding improper advantage, not prosecuting without reasonable prospects
Identify the ethical duties of defence counsel - competence, confidentiality, conflicts of interest and the duty not to mislead the court
Explain the rules on fees, client funds, retainers and conflicts in criminal retainers
Apply the professional conduct rules to at least three realistic dilemmas and reach a defensible conclusion
Your checkpoint
A professional-conduct memo resolving three ethical dilemmas (prosecutorial disclosure, a client who insists on giving false evidence, and a conflict in a joint retainer) with rule-based reasoning
Constitutional foundations and fair trial rights in criminal process & Trial procedure, plea, evidence presentation and submission of no case & Appeals, review and revision & Sentencing, sentencing guidelines and other post-conviction orders
Consolidate the whole syllabus into a one-page process map from arrest to appeal
Re-attempt the questions you got wrong in weeks 1 to 7 and record why each error occurred
Write a full timed mock answer for one essay question and one problem question under exam conditions
Identify your three weakest areas and produce a targeted revision list for each
Your checkpoint
A completed one-page process map plus two timed mock answers and an error log listing every recurring mistake with its correction
Milestones
Week 2: You can state, without notes, the constitutional and statutory position on bail in a non-capital case and draft a bail application in under 30 minutes
Week 4: You can draft a valid charge and a submission of no case to answer from a bare fact pattern without referring to the statute
Week 6: You can produce a reasoned sentencing judgment that cites the statutory maximum and at least three sentencing principles
Week 8: You can complete a full timed mock answer within the allotted time and your error log shows fewer than five recurring mistakes