GREENFIELD COLLEGE

FACULTY OF LAW

1ST SEMESTER, 2025/2026 ACADEMIC YEAR

COURSE: BACHELOR OF LAWS(LLB)

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 1

LECTURE 6

LECTURER: STEPHEN SARFO TENKORANG

STATUTORY INSTUMENTS

Statutory instrument by the Interpretation Act 2009 (ACT 792) is an instrument made under
authority, direct or indirect of an act of parliament. Article 11 (1) of the constitution of Ghana,
1992 states that “The laws of Ghana shall comprise

(a) this Constitution;

(b) enactments made by or under the authority of the Parliament established by this Constitution;

(c ) any Orders, Rules and Regulations made by any person or authority under a power
conferred by this Constitution” This is why statutory instruments are seen as a source of law in
Ghana.

Delegated legislation, a statutory instrument or subsidiary legislature is one which does not
originate from the parliament but was created by a body to which the parliament has delegated
legislative authority.
Statutory instrument or subsidiary legislature are made by a subordinate body such as District
Assembly or Ministers of State under the authority of parliament or the constitution usually
through the delegation of the legislative power in a statute.

Thus the power to make statutory instruments are derived from an Act of Parliament or the
constitution.

There are three types of statutory instruments namely the legislative instrument, executive
instrument and constitutional instrument.

A legislative instrument as the name purports is a statutory instrument that is legislative in

character. The Interpretations Act 2009 (Act 792) defined a legislative instrument to mean “a
statutory instrument that is legislative in character”. Legislative instrument are instruments that
generally alter or determine the law, rather than applying it to a particular case and has a direct or
indirect effect affecting privilege or interest, imposing an obligation, creating rights or varying or
removing an obligation or right. In simpler terms, legislative instrument has the ability to alter
the law generally rather than a specific situation. An example of a legislative instrument is The
Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) rules,1969.

An executive instrument on the other hand refers to statutory instruments that are neither
legislative or judicial in character. The Interpretation Act 2009 (Act 792) defines an executive
instrument as

a. An instrument specified by an Act of Parliament as an executive instrument.

b. A statutory instrument which is of an administrative character or of an executive character and

is not an instrument

,i. Of a judicial character, or

ii. Of a legislative character. This instruments are normally issued by executive authority under
a power conferred by an act of parliament or the constitution to implement a specific rule or
order in a specific case. An example of an executive instrument is The Enzo Bombelli
Deportation Order, 1980 (EI 27 of 1980) which was issued by the interior minister under a power
conferred by the Aliens Act 1963 (Act 160).

However, a constitutional instrument is a statutory instrument that is made pursuant to a power

conferred in that behalf by the constitution. In simpler terms constitutional instrument are made
under a power conferred by the constitution. Constitutional instrument follows the format and
drafting style or manner of statutory instruments although there is no act of parliament which
details the format or requirement of drafting. An example of a constitutional instrument is
Supreme Court (Amendment) Rules 2016 (C.I 98) which amended The Supreme Court Rules,
1996 (CI 16).
Although legislative instruments, constitutional instrument and executive instrument are all types
of statutory instrument they are all not similar per se. The following are the differences between
the three types of statutory instruments.

Firstly, not all statutory instruments are laid before parliament.

Article 11(7) of the 1992 constitution provides that “ (7) Any Order, Rule or Regulation made
by a person or authority under a power conferred by this constitution or any other law shall-

a. be laid before Parliament;

b. be published in the gazette on the day it is to be laid before parliament and

c. come into force at the expiration of twenty-one sitting days after being so laid unless
parliament, before the expiration of twenty-one sitting days, annuls the Order, Rule or
Regulation by votes of not less than two thirds of the members of parliament.

”This provision on the normal view may imply that all statutory instrument be laid before
parliament before coming into effect.

However the cases of Republic v. Minister for Interior; Ex Parte Bombelli [1981] DLHC
990, and Association of Finance Houses V. Bank of Ghana and Another [2021] GHASC 83
gave a clear meaning to the type of orders or rules that need to be laid before Parliament. In ex
parte Bombelli the court held that EI 27 of 1980 did not fall under the range of rules or was not
covered by article 4(7) of the 1974 constitution because it was an executive instrument and
applied to a specific situations and not a legislative instrument.

Also, in Association of Finance Houses v. Bank of Ghana, the court held that there is a
distinction between the administrative power (Executive Instrument) and legislative power
(legislative instrument) and stated that legislative power is used to lay down the law for people in
general and must be passed through parliament, however an administrative power is used to
apply or lay down the law in certain situations. Thus the directives issued by the defendants were
not orders or rules under article 11(7) and did not have to be laid before parliament. This implies
a clear distinction that is legislative instruments are laid before parliament whereas executive and
constitutional instrument are not laid before parliament before coming into force.

Also, they perform different functions. From the above argument it can be seen that statutory
instruments do not all perform the same functions or the same purpose. Although they receive
their validity from the same source they function differently, a legislative instrument is used to
alter or determine the law generally whereas an executive instrument is used to make laws that
apply to a particular case or a specific situation.

The court in Ex Parte Bombelli defined legislative in character or a legislative instrument as

““Legislative acts deal with general enactments i.e. laws which affect the general public”
affirming the functions of legislative instrument. An example is the ELECTRICTY SUPPLY
AND DISTRIBUTION (TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL) RULES, 2005 (LI 1816) which
determined the generally in relation to electricity supply and distribution. Executive instrument
on the other hand apply to a specific situation as seen in ex parte Bombelli where the ENZO
BOMBELLI DEPORTATION ORDER was made to tackle only the deportation or removal of
Mr. Enzo Bombelli and his family out of the country. Such instrument are issued normally to
tackle the day to day administration of the country and may also be issued in times of
emergency. Constitutional instruments however function quite similarly to legislative instrument
in the sense that they are used to amend already existing laws

Another difference can be found in the duration of the statutory instruments. A legislative
instrument may be in effect as long as it is not repealed or annulled by another law. A
constitutional instrument is very rigid and quite difficult to get rid and may be in effect as long as
the constitution holds. However, an executive instrument may lose its effect after it has been
applied or used for the purpose it was made. For example, the Enzo Bombelli deportation cannot
be used to deport any other person apart from Mr. Enzo Bombelli and his family.

READ THE FULL CASE

Republic v. Minister for Interior; Ex Parte Bombelli [1981] DLHC 990,