Constitutional Law is concerned with the role and powers of the institutions of a state and their relationship with private individuals. In the interpretation of a constitution for instance there is the need apart from the facts for the judiciary to consider the general societal norms and values in any given time.

The Constitution refers to the body of rules relating to the functions and structure and powers of the organs of the state, their relationship with one another and with the private individual. A constitution has no force than that which the people in authority want to ascribe to it. It may be grouped into two meanings:

Narrower Meaning: It means a document having a special legal sanctity which sets out the framework and the principal functions of the organs of government within the state, and declares the principles by which those organs must operate....Wade And Philips, Constitutional Law, Edition 8, P1.

Wider Meaning: The whole system of government of a country, the collection of rules which establish and regulate or govern the government....Professor K.C Wheare, Modern Constitutions, Oxford Press 1961, P1.

Thomas Paine states in The Rights of Man 1791-1792 (H Collins Ed) Penguin 1969, P 93....A constitution is not an act of government, but of a people constituting a Government, and a Government without a constitution is power without right...A constitution is a thing antecedent to a Government; and a Government is only the creature of the constitution.

Sir Ivor Jennings stated in The Law of the Constitution, Cambridge University Press, 5TH Ed. 1958, P 36...If a constitution only means a written document, then obviously Great Britain has no constitution, since there is no single document considered the fundamental law of the land.

In Ghana as well as other states like USA and Canada, with a written constitution, a written constitution alone cannot ensure smooth administration. It is surrounded by a variety of customary rules and practices, statutes of parliament, judicial decisions. A constitution need not be written, both written and unwritten constitutions contain the features of each other.