H Prempeh - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by H Prempeh

Journal of Democracy, 2000

... Lawyers and Liberal Democracy. H. Kwasi Prempeh. ... Lawyers also participated more directly ... more ... Lawyers and Liberal Democracy. H. Kwasi Prempeh. ... Lawyers also participated more directly in democratic politics. "The government of democracy," Tocqueville wrote, "is favorable to the political power of lawyers; for when the wealthy, the noble and the prince are excluded from ...

On ne peut que féliciter les initiateurs de ce projet et souhaiter à cet ouvrage de connaître le ... more On ne peut que féliciter les initiateurs de ce projet et souhaiter à cet ouvrage de connaître le succès qu'il mérite.

International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2007

Compared to the cataclysmic events that swept eastern and central Europe at the end of the 1980s,... more Compared to the cataclysmic events that swept eastern and central Europe at the end of the 1980s, Africa's recent " constitutional moments " 2 have attracted little notice or interest from comparative constitutionalists. Indeed, as one infl uential American constitutional scholar has observed, " Amidst the blossoming of comparative scholarship, most of the continent of Africa is usually overlooked, as if it were a legal ' Heart of Darkness, ' as if it were a lawless world. " 3 Only South Africa's transition from apartheid to multiracial constitutionalism, and, with it, the emerging jurisprudence of its famous Constitutional Court, 4 has captured the interest of comparative constitutional scholars. With images of gloom and doomthe perennial focus of reporting and news about Africa in the Western mediasustaining preconceived notions of " African exceptionalism, " 5 the exclusion of African cases (outside of South Africa) from the fl ourishing discourse in comparative constitutionalism is not altogether surprising. Yet democracy's " third wave, " 6 which was indeed global in its geographic sweep, left important imprints across the rest of Africa that are worthy of study as an integral part of the story of the " rise of world constitutionalism. " 7 2 The term " constitutional moment " is Bruce Ackerman's famous coinage for those dramatic episodes in a country's constitutional development when previously settled understandings as to the nature and meaning of the extant constitutional order are repudiated and replaced by new understandings that are widely accepted as legitimate, even though the discontinuity might have occurred without recourse to the formal processes of constitutional change. See generally BRUCE ACKERMAN, WE THE PEOPLE: TRANSFORMATIONS (Harvard Univ. Press 1998).

Tul. L. Rev., 2005

... My thanks to my colleagues Michelle Adams, Tristin Green, and Charles Sullivan and to Mary Du... more ... My thanks to my colleagues Michelle Adams, Tristin Green, and Charles Sullivan and to Mary Dudziak of the University of Southern California Law Center for their very helpful comments on previous drafts of this Article. ... 27. See Mary L. Dudziak, Who Cares About Courts? ...

Tolerance for presidential misrule and indefinite presidential tenure may have worn thin in Afric... more Tolerance for presidential misrule and indefinite presidential tenure may have worn thin in Africa's democratizing polities, but with voters still caring most about beating the twin scourges of underdevelopment and economic marginalization, belief in the beneficent uses of preponderant executive power continues to run strong. African polities must move beyond the fixation with "strong" leadership and focus instead on building

International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2013

The last decade has witnessed a constitutional revival in Africa, with several countries adopting... more The last decade has witnessed a constitutional revival in Africa, with several countries adopting new constitutions. Several of these constitutions have been adopted following serious ethnic tensions, especially in the Great Lakes region. Because of the nature of the ethnic conflicts which were rooted in the repression of minority communities, the new constitutional frameworks regarding ethnicity and minority rights are going to be extremely significant for the peace and stability of the region. By analyzing the recently adopted constitutions of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, this article seeks to examine the extent to which some of the most recently adopted constitutions of the continent are addressing, or not, the rights of the most marginalized minority communities. By focusing on the Great Lakes region, this article explores why there is still a general reluctance towards the recognition of minority rights in most African constitutions.

it was with great trepidation that I accepted the invitation to deliver this distinguished lectur... more it was with great trepidation that I accepted the invitation to deliver this distinguished lecture, together with the suggestion that my remarks should focus on Russia. Although my lifelong preoccupation with international politics-and in particular with the struggle between freedom and tyranny-has led me to follow closely developments in Russia (and, of course, the Soviet Union), I must confess at the outset that I am not an "old Russia hand." I do not speak Russian, and I have never spent more than two consecutive weeks in Russia. Why, then, did I agree to speak on this subject? In the first place, as an analyst of international relations I have a strong interest in the political role of human passions, and I think that understanding wounded pride, repressed guilt, resentment, and the manipulation of fear is central for interpreting Russia today. But I was also attracted by the idea of paying tribute to the memory of Seymour Martin Lipset. I met him and his wife Sydnee only once, toward the end of his life, at a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Congress for Cultural Freedom. To my knowledge, Lipset did not write much on Russia or on communism, but he did write extensively on the connection between economic development, the rise of a middle class, and democracy, as well as on the impact of political culture and traditions. As I expected, in preparing this lecture, I found a good deal of inspiration in Lipset's intellectual approach.

Verfassung in Recht und Übersee, 2012

In one of his most celebrated dissents on the Court of Appeals of England, the legendary common l... more In one of his most celebrated dissents on the Court of Appeals of England, the legendary common law jurist Lord Denning suggested a binary classification of judges: "On the one side there were timorous souls who were fearful of allowing a new cause of action. On the other side there were bold spirits who were ready to allow it if justice so required." 1 The progressive development of the law, according to Denning, is to be credited to the judicial creativity and courage of bold spirits; timorous souls showed blind allegiance to existing rules and precedent-the 'dead hand of the past'-and, in so doing, served a sterile, not a constructive, role in the law. 2 If "[t]he powerful still abuse their powers without restraint," 3 it is thanks to the dominant influence of timorous souls; bold spirits will not let stand "any rule of law which impairs the doing of justice-they will do all they "legitimately can to avoid that rule-or even to change it-so as to do justice in the instant case before [them]." 4 Denning saw law-and for that matter, judicial office-as an instrument for doing instant justice. Lord Denning practiced what he preached. As a judge, he exemplified the bold spirit par excellence. 5 In his thirty-eight years on the English bench, Denning blazed many new trails in the common law, frequently upsetting the doctrinal status quo in the process. In time, many of his dissenting judgments, including the famous "timorous souls"/"bold spirits" dissent in Candler v, Crane, Christmas & Co., became the law of the land-not only in England but in the larger common law world. Postcolonial Africa was born in the "age of Lord Denning." 6 Denning in fact played a pioneering role in the design and establishment of formal legal education and training in Africa from the late 1950s onwards, serving as chairman of the Committee on Legal Edu

Journal of Democracy, 2008

... If anything, an imperial presidency magnifies the costs of having an incompetent or bad leade... more ... If anything, an imperial presidency magnifies the costs of having an incompetent or bad leader at the helm. ... This is the phenomenon of the imperial presidency. 3 Africa's current presidents may be term-limited, but by all accounts they have not yet been tamed. ...

Journal of Democracy, 2012

Ghana has won praise for its steady progress toward democratic consolidation, especially after it... more Ghana has won praise for its steady progress toward democratic consolidation, especially after its second peaceful alternation of power in 2009, when President John Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) handed the reins to John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after the latter's narrow victory in a runoff. Yet some worrying political trends threaten to undermine the country's achievements. The 2007 discovery of the Jubilee oil field in the Gulf of Guinea off the western end of Ghana's shoreline and the country's new status as an oil producer as of December 2010 may exacerbate these problems. On 7 December 2012, voters will go to the polls both to choose a president and to fill all the seats in Ghana's 230-seat unicameral Parliament (and, if necessary, a presidential runoff will be held on December 28). Will Ghana's democratic institutions prove strong enough to withstand the much-discussed "curse" of natural-resource rents and their politically corrupting effects? Ghanaians greeted the announcement of the first oil find with widespread elation, and President Kufuor called the discovery a "shot in the arm" that could propel his country to the status of an "African Tiger" in a few short years. 1 The national euphoria has since been tempered, however, as policy makers, civil society groups, and analysts raise concerns regarding the challenges of managing Ghana's oil and gas resources. Ghana's oil windfall is modest by global or even regional standards. Industry projections put the country's overall oil-resource potential at roughly 4.5 billion barrels. The Jubilee field, which is operated by a consortium led by the Anglo-Irish Tullow Oil and Texas-based Kosmos

International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2006

The global spread of constitutionalism and judicial review, during the last two decades, 1 has ge... more The global spread of constitutionalism and judicial review, during the last two decades, 1 has generated vigorous scholarly interest and activity in the comparative study of courts and judicial behavior in transitional democracies. 2 On the vast continent of Africa, South Africa's postapartheid Constitutional Court, known for its innovative jurisprudence in the area of rights, 3 has emerged as the undisputed favorite of comparative constitutional scholars and social scientists 4 as well as a lodestar for jurists across

Hastings constitutional law quarterly, 2008

, the president of the southern African state of Zambia, "on behalf of the nation," declared his ... more , the president of the southern African state of Zambia, "on behalf of the nation," declared his country a "Christian Nation." 1 Remarkably, President Frederick Chiluba made this declaration without consulting his cabinet, party, or the national legislature. 2 A self-described evangelical Christian, President Chiluba simply imposed his own religious preferences on his entire nation, ignoring the fact that Zambia has been a secular state since its founding in 1964 and remains a culturally and religiously pluralistic society. Against the objections of influential sections of the Zambian polity and society, including well-established Christian congregations, the president stood by his declaration and, in fact, succeeded in 1996 in getting it memorialized in the form of a "Christian Nation clause" inserted in the preamble to the country's amended Constitution, where it still sits today. What is significant about this story is that the Zambian president's declaration was not the act of some notorious "African dictator" whose word had always been law. To the contrary,

African Journal of International and Comparative Law, 2010

Abstract: Ghana, the country widely acknowledged as the contemporary leader in African democratiz... more Abstract: Ghana, the country widely acknowledged as the contemporary leader in African democratization, is currently embarked on a comprehensive review of its Fourth Republican Constitution, in force since the restoration of constitutional democracy in 1993. This ...