GHANA SCHOOL OF LAW
(BOARD OF LEGAL EDUCATION)
ENTRANCE EXAMINATION TO THE PROFESSIONAL LAW COURSE
AUGUST, 2019
TIME: 2 HOURS
SECTION A
ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS IN THIS SECTION
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Which of the following defines constitutionalism?
a) Government actions should be based on the Constitution
b) Government actions should be legal
c) Government actions should be controlled
d) Government action should be legal and constitutional
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Arrange in chronological order the following steps in exercising legislative power.
i) Referral to appropriate committee to examine the bill, read and make all necessary enquiries
ii) Full debate on the bill by Parliament
iii) Report of the Committee
iv) Presentation of bill to President for assent
a) i, ii, iii and iv
b) ii, I, iii, and iv
c) i, iii, ii and iv
d) ii, iii and iv
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3. The case of Heman v. Cofie [1997-98] 1GLR 144-158 can be used as authority for which one of the following positions?
a) Where the duress was by a third party and not the other contracting party, it had to be established that th£ other contracting party who was seeking to enforce the contract, knew at the time of making the contract of the threat or the compulsion or the constraint on the party pleading duress
b) The purpose of a loan contract is neither the subject-matter nor the fundamental obligation owed by the borrower to the lender
c) The position of William v. Roffey only applies where there is a deed of variation
d) A contract which results from duress must be to the “manifest disadvantage of the person who is persuaded to enter into it”
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Graham, an antique dealer, collects and sells rare books. Whilst visiting a local town he noticed that Peter rare editions of three books for sale in his secondhand bookshop. He negotiates and agrees a price of 500cedis for each of the rare editions on the assumption that he will have the books in his possession, he negotiates to sell the first book to Eric for 800cedis. The second book is to be sold to Ellen for 600cedis, together with another rare book that Ellen is to sell to Graham for 400cedis (as Graham has a buyer this book in the sum of 600cedis). The third book, which is the only surviving copy is to be sold to Richard for the sum of 1,000.00 cedis. Graham has now returned to collect and paid for the three books from Peter as agreed. He is shocked as Peter informs him that the sale is off because he has received an offer from Betram in the sum of 2,000 cedis for the set of three books and has agreed to sell them to him.
Which one of the remedies below has Graham against Peter?
a) Specific performance
b) Injunction
c) Recission
d) Restitution
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Mensah appoints George to act as his agent for two weeks. George agrees to act without payment. Mensah instructs George to collect rent each Friday morning from his tenant and pay the rents into the bank next door. In the second week, George collects the rent but fails to bank it. On the way home, he leaves it on the Trotro and it is never recovered. Can Mensah take action against George’for breach of his agency duties?
a) No, Mensah has provided no consideration and therefore there is no agreement.
b) Yes, even though George is a gratuitous agent, if he does act, he must do so in accordance with instructions set out by the principal
c) No, George is a gratuitous agent and has no duty to follow instructions
d) Yes, provided he pays George for being an agent
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The doctrine of privity of contract is that a contract cannot confer rights or impose obligations arising under it on any person except the parties to it. In respect of a lease, which of the following best describes the said doctrine
a) Relationship which exists between the lessor and the lessee and between them only
b) The relationship which exists between the lessor, the lessee and assignee from the lessee of the residue of the term
c) The relationship which exist between a lessee and an assignee of the reversion
d) The relationship which exists between an assignee of the reversion and an assignee of the residue of the term
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In your view, which of the following will not justify the use of force or infliction of harm
in our criminal justice system.
a) The necessity for the prevention of or defence against a criminal offence
b) The necessity of defending property or possession or overcoming obstruction to the exercise of lawful rights
c) The necessity of a person engaged in a brawl to defeat his adversary in the brawl
d) The necessity for preserving order on board a vessel
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Mesne profit means •
a) The average of profits made from the management of a landed property over a given period .
b) Profits existing for the benefit of the owner of the dominant tenement and exercisable only to the extent to which the dominant tenement can benefit
c) Profits made from the management of an estate which have not yet been paid to the estate owner and are being held, in the meantime by the estate manager
d) Rents or profits which a person with no title to the land he has entered into receives or makes or which he might have received or made from the land during his occupation
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Section 15 of Civil Liability Act, 1963 ( Act 176) defines “dependent” in relation to a
person whose death is caused by a wrongful act as one of the following:
a) Relatives and adopted children
b) Children and surviving parents who rely on the deceased
c) Any member of the family and adopted children
d) Surviving spouse and children
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Choose which of the following statements is not in accord with the provisions of the
Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) on what constitutes intent to cause or contribute to
cause an eventa) A person who does an act for the purpose of causing or contributing to cause an event, intends to cause that event, even though in fact or in his belief or both in fact and also in that belief, the act is unlikely to cause or contribute to cause the event.
b) A person does not intend to cause or contribute to causing an event where,
notwithstanding what he may believe, his act is unlikely to cause or contribute to cause an event. ‘c) A person who does an act voluntarily believing it will probably cause or contribute to cause an event, intends to cause that event although that person does not do the act for the purpose of causing or contributing to cause the event
d) There is a rebuttable presumption that a person intended to cause an event where he does an act of a kind or in a manner that, if reasonable caution and observation had been used, it would appear to that person that the act would probably cause or contribute to cause the event that there would be great risk of the act causing or contributing to cause an event
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Which of the following is not an intentional tort
a) Fraudulent breach of trust
b) Assault
c) Battery
d) Malicious prosecution -
“Volenti non fit injuria” means that a consenting party cannot suffer a legal wrong. It is
reasonable to conclude from this that;a) Those spectators of games and sporting occasions accept the risk of injuries from the players even when caused by intentional or reckless conduct
b) A passenger who decides to travel on the vehicle of a driver who to his knowledge has been negligent before accepts the risk of an accident and its consequences
c) Those who own property adjoining the highway accept the risk of such accidents as occur without negligence
d) A workman who works in a quarry where for months he sees stones swung by a crane over the heads of his fellow workmen and himself, has accepted the risk of an accident from the fall of a stone such as injured him.
Which of the following options a-d bests completes the above statement on volenti non fit injuria? -
In relation to bills of exchange, which of the following statements do you consider
incorrect?a) Where the holder of a bill payable to the order of the holder transfers it of value without indorsing it, the transfer gives the transferee the title which the transferor had in the bill but the transferee does not acquire the rights to have the indorsement of the transferor
b) Where Kwadwo gives Kwabena a bill accepted by Kwaku in settlement of his debt, that same instrument may be passed on by Kwabena to Yaw in settlement of a debt between them to both Kwabena and Yaw relying on the credit of Kwaku.
c) A bill payable to bearer is negotiated by delivery
d) Where a bill purports to be indorsed conditionally, the conditions may be disregarded by the payer, and payment to the indorsee is valid whether the condition has been fulfilled or not
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The court may refuse to enforce a term in a mortgage deed which gives some advantage to the mortgagee in addition to his security and interests on the grounds that:
a) It is contrary to the provisions of the Mortgages Act, 1972
b) It is a potential clog to the equity of redemption
c) It violates the maxim, “he who comes to equity must do equity”
d) It violates the maxim, “equity looks to the intent rather than the form’’. Which of the options a to d bests completes the above statement?
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Every person is entitled to his personal liberty and is guaranteed protection against any interference with that right by Article 14(1) of the 1992 Constitution. Indicate which one of the following this protection does not operate to:
a) Where the interference is necessitated by the execution of a sentence or order of the court in respect of a criminal offence or of a civil wrong or to which he has been found guilty or liableb) Where the interference is necessitated by the execution of an order of court punishing him for contempt of court
c) Where the interference is necessitated by the execution of a judgment debt against him
d) Where the interference is necessary for his welfare and benefit.
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The principle has long been established that an incorporated company is distinct from its members and that it is a legal persona just as much as an individual. In view of or in spite of the company’s existence as a legal persona, which of the following states the law wrongly?
a) The company has a capacity to commit crimes and can be indicted for its criminal acts
b) The company can be held liable for torts committed by its agents or servants in the course of their employment in the same manner in which any other principal or employer would be vicariously liable
c) The company can acquire by way of purchase any of its issued shares just in the same manner as any individual can acquire such shares
d) The company can be a director, a secretary or a manager of another company
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“No action shall be brought to recover land after the expiration of 12years from the date on which the right of action accrued to the person bringing it or, if it first accrued to a person through whom he claims for that person”. … Section 10(1) of the Limitations Act, 1972 (NRCD 54). In your opinion, in which of the following situations would adverse possession of land not be established?
a) Where the possession has been open, visible and unchallenged so as to give notice to the paper or legal owner that one is asserting a claim adverse to his.
b) Where the person claiming to be in possession establishes discontinuance of possession by the paper or legal owner, followed by his possession
c) Where the person claiming possession establishes ouster by him of a paper or legal owner
d) Where the person claiming possession establishes possession concurrent with and to the knowledge of the paper or legal owner.
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Which of the following is not true concerning independence of the Electoral Commission?
a) The President cannot interfere with the manner it conducts elections
b) Parliament cannot interfere with the manner it conducts registration of voters
c) The judiciary cannot adjudicate on its non-compliance with statutory provisions regulating its conduct in creating constituencies
d) Political parties cannot direct it in the declaration of election results
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The word “goods” in section 81 of Sale of Goods Act 1962, (Act 137), may not include all,
except in respect of the following categories ‘
a) Personal chattels other than things in action and money and in particular “goods” includes emblements, industrial growing crops and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale
b) Personal chattels such as things in action and emblements, industrial growing crops, and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the Contract of sale.
c) Every chattel other than things in action an money and in particular “goods” include emblements, industrial growing crops, and things attached to or fanning part of the land which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale.
d) Every chattel such as things in action and money and in particular “goods” includes emblements, industrial growing crops and things attached to or fanning part of the land which are agreed to be severed before or under the contract for sale.
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“A person who, in the course of non-natural use of his land, is held to be responsible for the accumulation on it of anything likely to do harm- if it escapes is liable for the interference with the use of land of another which results from the escape of things from the land” this is a statement of the Rule in Rylands v. Flectcher. In which of the following situations will the rule apply?
a) Koranteng whiles working in Awadzi’s factory was injured by an explosion there. Koranteng made no allegation of negligence against Awadzi, but sued Awadzi in respect of the injuries sustained by him. The basis of Koranteng’s claim was that Awadzi carried on the manufacture of high explosive shells, knowing that were dangerous things.
b) Kwadwo and Frimpong are neighbours at East Legon in Accra. Kwadwo runs a baseball club on his premises. On one occasion, a ball was hit from the park onto Frimpong’s premises and it passed through Frimpong’s window and damaged a Hi- tech television set which Frimpong had purchased and installed only the day before. Kwadwo has been running his club for close to three years and occasion was the first time a ball had entered frimpong’s house from the Club. Frimpong is devastated by the damage suffered and he has decided to sue Kwadwo.
c) Kotoku has planted on his land a variety of plants some of which are known to be very poisonous. Amadu’s house adjoins Kotoku’s land and Amadu has on a number of occasions complained to Kotoku about the cultivation of poisonous plants in the area.
d) Amadu keeps horses in his house. On one occasion, one of Amadu’s horses, particularly treasured by him, reached over to Kotoku’s land and ate some leaves from one of the plants on Kotoku’s land. The horse died as a result and Amadu has decided to sue Kotoku.d) Kwame’s house adjoins that of Owusu, and Kobby is a young boy living in the area who is notorious for mischief making. On one occasion, whiles Kwame was away on trek with no caretaker in the house, Kobby entered Kwame’s kitchen and turned on a tap in the kitchen. For two days, water kept running from the tap with the result that the whole of Kwame’s compound got flooded. Eventually large quantities of water escaped from Kwame’s compound down a gully and sipped through and fell upon Owusu’s house causing much damage to property in the house. Owusu has decided to sue Kwame.
SECTION B
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1. You have just been awarded a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Degree from a University in Ghana, in the gap period before you enter law school, you have taken up an internship at Ghana’s Law Reform Commission (GLRC). The Government of Ghana with assistance from the World Bank’s Legal Sector Reform Programme, has initiated reforms in Ghana’s legal sector with the Commission as the lead government agency. A delegation from the World Bank is to arrive in Ghana for initial discussions on the reforms and had requested that the Executive Secretary of the Commission provides them with a concise brief on “the Sources of Law in Ghana”. The Executive Secretary has asked you for a draft of the brief.
2. The American Business Association (ABA) has organized an expository visit to Ghana. Your cousin who lives in the United States has told the President of the ABA that you are a recent law graduate in Ghana. The President has contracted you to prepare a presentation to the ABA delegation on: “The Fundamental Principles that Govern the Formation of Contracts for the Sale of Goods in Ghana”. Write the presentation.
