About the Journal

Introduction to the Journal

The Ashesi Legislative Review (ALR) is an academic journal dedicated to critically examining the legislative landscape in Ghana, with a primary focus on bills which are pending before the Ghanaian Parliament as well as already enacted laws. This journal aims to foster a culture of legislative scrutiny by providing a platform where legal scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and the public can engage in robust analysis of proposed and enacted laws. By highlighting both commendable provisions and potential pitfalls, the journal seeks to influence the law-making process by advocating for better governance through informed public discourse. The constitution requires that bills are to be gazetted along with their informing memoranda. Hansards are also required to be published. This is intended to facilitate the public understanding, discourse, and involvement in the process of legislation and keep Parliament from becoming sovereign unto itself. But the lack of any dedicated, thoughtful, and thorough source from which to glean the downstream implications of laws has rendered the public nature of the legislative process inutile.

The journal will evaluate unintended socio-cultural, economic, and political implications, and make suggestions for improvement. These reviews aim to hold lawmakers accountable, inform necessary amendments, and guide future legislative efforts.

The target audience is parliamentarians, advocacy-focused civil society organizations, media houses, university libraries, legal and relevant faculty in public universities, the judiciary and Government ministries. To that end, in order to ensure disemination, we aspire to distribute to these demographics for free.

 

Aim of the Journal

The Ashesi Legislative Review seeks to:

  1. Critique Pending Legislation:By reviewing bills before Parliament, the journal aims to identify problematic provisions, highlight areas of concern, and provide evidence-based critiques. The journal’s articles will not only question the necessity and potential impacts of these provisions, but will also explre alternative solutions. All this is to ensure that the difficult but necessary conversatoins are had and changes made before the bills become binding laws.
  2. Highlight Positive Legislative Provisions:The journal will also highlight and celebrate well-crafted legislative provisions, showcasing examples of good law-making that should be emulated. Recognizing positive developments encourages lawmakers to adopt best practices and informed approaches in drafting future bills.
  3. Review Enacted Laws with Negative Impacts:The journal will include articles that revisit laws already on the books, especially those that have had adverse effects on society or have not been implemented as intended. These reviews aim to highlight issues that need legislative or administrative attention and facilitate discussions on necessary reforms.
  4. Facilitate Public Discourse:The journal aims to democratize the law-making process by engaging a broad audience, including legal professionals, academics, civil society, and the general public. By making the legislative process more accessible, the journal empowers the public to engage in discussions about the laws that govern them. It invites diverse voices to participate in the critique and shaping of legislation, enhancing democratic accountability. Through well reasoned articles, the journal will create an avenue for diverse voices to participate in discussions that could influence legislative outcomes.
  5. Inform and Guide Policymakers:The journal serves as a resource for lawmakers and government officials by providing constructive feedback and thoughtful analysis. It aims to bridge the gap between academic perspectives and practical legislative reform, offering insights that could lead to better laws and policies, or even the amendments or the reconsideration of certain legislative paths.

 

What the Journal Seeks to Accomplish

The Ashesi Legislative Review seeks to accomplish the following objectives:

  1. Prevent the Passage of Flawed Laws:By critiquing pending legislation, the journal acts as a preemptive check on legislative power. It provides a forum where potential legal and societal issues can be addressed before a bill becomes law, creating opportunities for amendments or reconsideration.
  2. Highlight Gaps in Existing Laws and Implementation:For laws already in force, the journal will occasionally address gaps, ineffective implementation, or unintended negative consequences. This retrospective analysis is aimed at sparking necessary debates that could lead to amendments or reforms.
  3. Promote Legislative Transparency and Accountability:The journal seeks to make the legislative process more transparent by bringing pending and problematic laws into the public eye. This will make lawmakers more accountable to the public, ensuring that laws are not only well-crafted but also properly implemented. This should ensure that laws passed are in the best interest of society.
  4. Empower Citizen Participation in Law-Making:By engaging a wide audience the journal promotes a participatory democracy. It empowers citizens to have a voice in the legislative process, fostering a more inclusive approach to governance.

Statement of Need 

No comparable publication exists. Specific legislation may attract a lot of interest and therefore generate commentary. But there is no source dedicated to the study, reflection and discussion of the legislation pending before Parliament.  This lack means that it is rare for the public to be engaged with legislation while it is being deliberated on. This not only deprives the legislature of the invaluable guidance of public discourse and academic scrutiny, but it also breaks the accountability loops between the people and their representatives

The necessity of the Ashesi Legislative Review stems from the critical need for transparency, accountability, and public participation in the legislative process. In Ghana, laws, once passed, are binding, often requiring lengthy and complex processes to amend or repeal. This journal addresses this challenge by intervening at a critical stage – before laws are passed – thus, creating a preemptive check on legislative power.

Poorly crafted or badly implemented laws can have negative and long-lasting impact on society, which underscores the importance of intervening early in the legislative process.

The contribution this journal will make to the quality of legislation, public awareness and engagement and teaching and learning in law, policy, and other disciplines in filling that gap cannot be overstated