UPSA Law School has honored retired Supreme Court Justice Professor Justice Samuel Kofi Date-Bah with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his exceptional contributions to Ghanaian law and its development. He is the first recipient of the award instituted by the law school to celebrate outstanding legal personalities who have significantly contributed to the rule of law, jurisprudence, legal philosophy, legal education, and national development through law.
The retired Supreme Court judge was honored for leading many landmark Supreme Court decisions that shaped the court's jurisprudence. Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, who chaired the event attended by legal professionals, recounted her experience working under Prof. Date-Bah as a judge. She said his remarkable ability to impart knowledge stood out. "Without trying to teach conventionally, in any short interaction, Prof. Date-Bah can impart professional and life lessons that can transform one's life and career," she said.
Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame highlighted some of Prof. Date-Bah's landmark judgments, saying they established that law is more than rules and regulations. "Prof. Date-Bah's appointment to the Supreme Court in 2003 further boosted his contribution to Ghana's legal education through many incisive judgments on constitutional law, business transactions, and other subjects," he added.
For his part, Justice Date-Bah commended UPSA Law School led by Prof. Kofi Abotsi for the honor. He said the legal system is an important instrument for Ghana's development process. However, development must be viewed holistically to benefit all. He advocated limiting executive powers to achieve constitutionalism.
Prof. Date-Bah had an illustrious legal career spanning academia, practice, and the judiciary. Before his Supreme Court appointment in 2003, he served for 20 years as a Commonwealth Secretariat legal adviser responsible for legal advisory and negotiating services to Commonwealth developing countries.
Earlier in his career, Prof. Date-Bah lectured at the University of Ghana, rising to Associate Professor, and later became a full law professor at the University of Calabar, Nigeria. He also held visiting positions at Oxford University, Yale Law School, and Fribourg University. While in academia, he engaged in part-time legal practice.
On the international stage, apart from his Commonwealth Secretariat role, Prof. Date-Bah represented Ghana at the UN Commission on International Trade Law in the 1970s and was elected its chair in 1978. He also helped draft the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts from 1996 to 2010.
In summary, Justice Date-Bah has had a distinguished legal career spanning over five decades in academia, practice, arbitration, and the judiciary both nationally and internationally. His many landmark judgments and scholarly contributions have significantly enriched Ghana's legal system. The Lifetime Achievement Award is a fitting recognition of his exceptional contributions to Ghanaian law and its development.
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