FIRST REPUBLIC
MOTOR VEHICLES
(THIRD PARTY INSURANCE) ACT, 1958 (NO. 42 OF 58)
As amended by
CONTRACTS ACT, 1960
(ACT 25)1
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section
1. Short title and
commencement.
2. Interpretation.
3. Users of motor
vehicles to be insured against third party risks.
4. Limitation of time
for proceedings.
5. Exemptions.
6. Requirements in
respect of policies.
7. Requirements in
respect of securities.
8. Certain conditions
to policies or securities to be of no effect.
9. Avoidance of
restrictions on the scope of policies covering third
party risks.
10. Duty of insurers to
satisfy judgments against persons insured in respect of
third party risks.
11. Rights of third
parties against insurers.
12. Duty to give
information to third parties.
13. Certain settlements
between insurer and insured to be of no effect.
14. Bankruptcy, etc.,
of insured persons not to affect certain claims.
15. Further rights of
third parties against insurers.
16. Duty to surrender
certificate on cancellation of policy.
17. Certificate to be
produced.
18. Duty of owner to
give information.
19. Deposits.
20. Offences.
21. Application of Act
to securities.
22. General penalty.
23. Power to make
regulations.
24. Repeal.
GHANANO. 42 OF 1958DATE
OF ASSENT
Assented to in Her
Majesty's Name and on Her Majesty's behalf this 23rd day
of December, 1958.
LISTOWEL
Governor-General.
AN ACT to make
provision for the protection of third parties against
risks arising out of the use of motor vehicles, and for
purposes incidental thereto.
Date of Commencement.
[1st April, 1959.]
BE IT ENACTED by the
Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice
and consent of the National Assembly of Ghana in this
present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of
the same as follows:—
Section 1—Short Title
and Commencement.
This Act may be cited
as the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Insurance) Act, 1958
and shall come into force on the first day of April,
1959.
Section
2—Interpretation.
(1) In this Act, unless
the context otherwise requires—
"company" includes any
company registered or required to be registered under
the provisions of the Companies Ordinance, any
corporation incorporated by law and any firm or
partnership;
No. 55 of 1952
"driving licence" means
a licence to drive a motor vehicle granted under the
provisions of the Road Traffic Ordinance, 1952;
"highway" includes any
roadway or place to which the public lawfully have free
access;
"insurer" and "approved
insurer" mean a person or body of persons carrying on an
insurance business approved by the Minister;
"local authority" means
a council established under the provisions of the Local
Government Ordinance or the Municipal Councils
Ordinance, 1953 or any Act amending either of the said
Ordinances;
"Minister" means the
Minister responsible for the Interior;
"passenger vehicle"
means a motor vehicle used for carrying passengers for
hire or reward;
"policy" and "policy of
insurance" means a policy of insurance in respect of
third party risks arising out of the use of motor
vehicles, being a policy which complies with the
provisions of this Act, and includes a covering note
issued in respect of any such policy;
"security" means such
security in respect of third party risks arising out of
the use of motor vehicles as complies with the
provisions of this Act.
No. 55 of 1952.
(2) If any word or
expression used in this Act is defined in the Road
Traffic Ordinance, 1952, such word or expression, unless
the context otherwise requires, shall have in this Act
the meaning assigned to it in the said Ordinance.
(3) Any reference in
this Act to the expressions "bankrupt" or "bankruptcy"
in relation to a person shall be construed as a
reference to any person who is insolvent or has entered
into a composition or arrangement with his creditors or
who has been adjudicated bankrupt under the provisions
of any enactment relating to bankruptcy having effect
for the time being in Ghana.
(4) Any reference in
this Act to the use of a motor vehicle shall be
construed as referring only to the use thereof on any
highway as defined in this Act.
Section 3—Users of
Motor Vehicles to be Insured Against Third Party Risks.
(1) Subject to the
provisions of this Act no person shall use, or cause or
permit any other person to use, a motor vehicle unless
there is in force in relation to the user of that motor
vehicle by such person or such other person, as the case
may be, such a policy of insurance or such security in
respect of third party risks as complies with the
provisions of this Act.
(2) Any person acting
in contravention of this section shall be liable on
conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds or
to imprisonment for one year or to both such fine and
imprisonment and a person convicted of an offence under
this section shall be disqualified from holding or
obtaining a driving licence.
(3) A disqualification
under the provisions of subsection (2), unless the court
for special reasons to be recorded otherwise orders,
shall be for a minimum period of twelve months from the
date of the conviction, and any person so disqualified
from holding or obtaining a driving licence under the
provisions of this section shall be deemed to be so
disqualified under the provisions of the Road Traffic
Ordinance, 1952.
No. 55 of 1952
Section 4—Limitation of
Time for Proceedings.
Notwithstanding the
provisions of any written law which prescribes a time
within which proceedings may be brought before a court,
proceedings in respect of an offence under section 3 may
be instituted—
(a) within a period of
six months from the date of the commission of the
alleged offence; or
(b) within a period
which exceeds neither six months from the date on which
it came to the knowledge of the prosecutor that the
offence had been committed, nor one year from the date
of the commission of the offence,
whichever period is the
longer.
Section 5—Exemptions.
The provisions of
section 3 shall not apply—
(a) to the user of a
motor vehicle owned by or exclusively employed in the
service of the Government while such motor vehicle is
being used for the purposes of the Government; or
(b) to the user of a
motor vehicle other than a passenger vehicle owned by a
person who has deposited and keeps deposited with the
Accountant-General the sum of five thousand pounds in
respect of such motor vehicle at any time when such
motor vehicle is being driven by the owner or by a
servant of the owner in the course of his employment; or
(c) to the user of a
motor vehicle at any time when it is driven for police
purposes by or under the direction of a superior police
officer as defined in the Police Force Ordinance; or
Cap 37
(d) to any person or
class of persons declared by the Governor-General to be
exempted from the the provisions of this Act.
(e) to any motor
vehicle or type of motor vehicle declared by the
Governor-General to be exempted from the provisions of
this Act.
Section 6—Requirements
in Respect of Policies.
(1) A policy of
insurance for the purposes of this Act must be a policy
which —
(a) is issued by an
insurer approved by the Minister; and
(b) insures such
persons or classes of person as may be specified in the
policy in respect of any liability which may be incurred
by him or them in respect of the death of or bodily
injury to any person caused by or arising out of the use
of a motor vehicle covered by the policy:
Provided that such
policy shall not be required to cover—
(a) liability in
respect of the death arising out of and in the course of
his employment of a person in the employment of a person
insured by the policy or of bodily injury sustained by
such a person arising out of and in the course of his
employment; or
(b) save in the case of
a passenger vehicle or where persons are carried by
reason of or in pursuance of a contract of employment,
liability in respect of the death of or bodily injury to
persons being carried in or upon or entering or getting
on to or alighting from a motor vehicle at the time of
the occurrence of the event out of which the claims
arise; or
(c) any contractual
liability.
(2) Where any payment
is made, whether or not with an admission of liability,
by —
(a) an insurer under or
in consequence of a policy issued under the provisions
of this Act; or
(b) the owner of a
motor vehicle in relation to the user of which a
security under section 7 is in force; or
(c) the owner of a
motor vehicle who has made a deposit under section 5,
in respect of the death
of or bodily injury to any person arising out of the use
of a motor vehicle and the person who has so died or
received bodily injury has to the knowledge of the
insurer or such owner, as the case may be, received
treatment at a hospital, whether as an in-patient or an
out-patient, in respect of the injury so arising there
shall be also paid by the insurer or such owner to such
hospital the expenses reasonably incurred by such
hospital in giving such treatment after deducting any
money actually received by such hospital in payment of a
specific charge for treatment:
Provided that the
amount to be paid by the approved insurer or the owner
shall not exceed fifty pounds for each person so treated
as an in-patient and five pounds for each person so
treated as an out-patient.
(3) [Repealed by
Contracts Act, 1960 (Act 25), s.18]
Certificate of
Insurance.
(4) A policy shall be
of no effect for the purposes of this Act unless and
until there is issued by the insurer to the person by
whom the policy is effected a certificate, in this Act
referred to as a certificate of insurance, in the
prescribed form and containing such particulars of any
conditions subject to which the policy is issued and of
such other matters as may be prescribed.
Section 7—Requirements
in Respect of Securities.
(1) For the purposes of
this Act a security must —
(a) be given either by
an insurer approved by the Minister or by a person,
company or body of persons approved by the Minister
carrying on the business of giving securities of a like
kind; and
(b) consist of an
undertaking by the giver of the security to make good,
subject to any conditions contained therein, any failure
by the owner of any passenger or other motor vehicle or
such other persons or classes of person as may be
specified in the security duly to discharge any such
liability as is required to be covered by a policy of
insurance issued under the provisions of this Act which
may be incurred by him or them, and such security shall
in the case of an undertaking relating to the use of a
passenger vehicle be up to an amount of not less than
twenty-five thousand pounds and in other case of not
less than five thousand pounds.
(2) A security shall be
of no effect for the purposes of this Act unless and
until there is issued by the person giving the security
to the person to whom it is given a certificate, in this
Act referred to as a certificate of security, in the
prescribed form and containing such particulars of any
conditions subject to which the security is issued and
of such other matters as may be prescribed.
Section 8—Certain
Conditions in Policies or Securities to be of no Effect.
Any condition in a
policy or security issued or given for the purposes of
this Act providing that no liability shall arise under
the policy or security, or that any liability so arising
shall cease in the event of some specified thing being
done or omitted to be done after the happening of the
event giving rise to a claim under the policy or
security, shall be of no effect in connection with such
claims as are set out in paragraph (b) of subsection (1)
of section 6:
Provided that nothing
in this section shall be so construed as to render void
any provision in a policy or security requiring the
person insured or secured to repay to the insurer or the
giver of the security any sums which the insurer or the
giver of the security may have become liable to pay
under the policy or the security and which have been
applied to the satisfaction of the claims of third
parties.
Section 9—Avoidance of
Restrictions on the Scope of Policies Covering Third
Party Risks.
Where a certificate of
insurance has been delivered under the provisions of
subsection (4) of section 6 to the person by whom a
policy has been effected so much of the policy as
purports to restrict the insurance of the person insured
thereby in respect of any of the following matters —
(a) the age or physical
or mental condition of persons driving the motor
vehicle; or
(b) the condition of
the motor vehicle; or
(c) the number of
persons that the motor vehicle carries; or
(d) the weight or
physical characteristics of the goods that the motor
vehicle carries; or
(e) the times at which
or the areas within which the motor vehicle is used; or
(f) the horsepower or
value of the motor vehicle; or
(g) the carrying on the
motor vehicle of any particular apparatus; or
(h) the carrying on the
motor vehicle of any particular means of identification
other than any means of identification required to be
carried under the provisions of the Road Traffic
Ordinance, 1952,
No. 55 of 1952
shall, in respect of
such liabilities as are required to be covered by a
policy under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
6, be of no effect:
Provided that nothing
in this section shall require an insurer to pay any sum
in respect of the liability of any person otherwise than
in or towards the discharge of that liability and any
sum paid by an insurer in or towards the discharge of
the liability of any person which is covered by the
policy by virtue only of this section shall be
recoverable by the insurer from that person.
Section 10—Duty of
Insurers to Satisfy Judgments Against Persons Insured in
Respect of Third Party Risks.
(1) If after a
certificate of insurance has been delivered under the
provisions of subsection (4) of section 6 to the person
by whom a policy has been effected judgment in respect
of any such liability as is required to be covered by a
policy issued under the provisions of paragraph (b) of
subsection (1) of section 6, being a liability covered
by the terms of the policy, is obtained against any
person insured by the policy then, notwithstanding that
the insurer may be entitled to avoid or cancel or may
have avoided or cancelled the policy, the insurer shall,
subject to the provisions of this section, pay to the
persons entitled to the benefit of such judgment any sum
payable thereunder in respect of the liability including
any sum payable in respect of costs and any sums payable
by virtue of any written law in respect of interest on
that sum or judgment.
(2) No sum shall be
payable by an insurer under the provisions of subsection
(1) —
(a) in respect of any
judgment unless before or within fourteen days after the
commencement of the proceedings in which the judgment
was given the insurer had notice of the bringing of the
proceedings; or
(b) in respect of any
judgment so long as execution thereon is stayed pending
an appeal; or
(c) in connection with
any liability if before the happening of the event,
which was the cause of the death or bodily injury giving
rise to the liability, the policy was cancelled by
mutual consent or by virtue of any provision contained
therein and either —
(i) before the
happening of such event the certificate of insurance was
surrendered to the insurer, or the person to whom the
certificate of insurance was delivered made a statutory
declaration stating that the certificate of insurance
had been lost or destroyed and so could not be
surrendered; or
(ii) after the
happening of such event but before the expiration of
fourteen days from the taking effect of the cancellation
of the policy the certificate of insurance was
surrendered to the insurer, or the person to whom the
certificate of insurance was delivered made a statutory
declaration that the certificate of insurance had been
lost or destroyed and so could not be surrendered; or
(iii) either before or
after the happening of the event or within a period of
fourteen days from the taking effect of the cancellation
of the policy the insurer had commenced proceedings
under this Act in respect of the failure to surrender
the certificate of insurance.
(3) No sum shall be
payable by an insurer under the provisions of this
section if in an action commenced before or within three
months after the commencement of the proceedings in
which the judgment was given he has obtained a
declaration that apart from any provision contained in
the policy, he is entitled to avoid it on the ground
that it was obtained by the non-disclosure of a material
fact or by a representation of fact which was false in a
material particular or if he has avoided the policy on
the ground that he was entitled to do so apart from any
provision contained in it:
Provided that an
insurer who has obtained such a declaration in an action
shall not thereby be entitled to the benefit of the
provisions of this subsection in respect of any judgment
obtained in any proceedings commenced before the
commencement of that action unless before or within
seven days after the commencement of that action he has
given notice thereof to the person who is plaintiff in
the action under the policy specifying the
non-disclosure or false representation on which he
proposes to rely and that he intends to seek a
declaration and any person to whom notice of such action
is given may, if he desires, be made a party thereto.
(4) If the amount which
an insurer under the provisions of this section becomes
liable to pay in respect of the liability of a person
insured by a policy exceeds the amount for which he
would, apart from the provisions of this section, be
liable to pay under the policy in respect of that
liability he shall be entitled to recover the excess
from that person.
(5) In this section—
"liability covered by
the terms of the policy" means a liability which is
covered by the policy or which would be so covered were
it not that the insurer is entitled to avoid or cancel
or has avoided or cancelled the policy; and
"material" means of
such a nature as to influence the judgment of a prudent
insurer in determining whether he will accept the risk
and if so, at what premium and on what conditions.
Section 11—Rights of
Third Parties against Insurers.
(1) Where under a
policy issued for the purposes of this Act a person,
hereinafter referred to as the insured, is insured
against liabilities to third parties which he may incur,
then —
(a) in the event of the
insured becoming bankrupt or making a composition or
arrangement with his creditors; or
(b) in the event of the
insured being a company and a winding-up order being
made or a resolution for the voluntary winding-up of the
company being passed in respect of the company or a
receiver or manager of the company's business or
undertaking being duly appointed or in the event of
possession being taken by or on behalf of the holders of
any debentures secured by a floating charge, or any
property comprised in or subject to the change,
if either before or
after either event any such liability is incurred by the
insured his rights against the insurer under the policy
in respect of that liability shall, notwithstanding
anything in any written law to the contrary contained,
be transferred to and vest in the third party to whom
the liability was so incurred.
(2) Where under the
provisions of any law an order is made for the
administration in bankruptcy of the estate of a deceased
debtor then if any debt, which may be proved in
bankruptcy, is owing by the deceased in respect of a
liability against which he was insured under a policy
issued for the purposes of this Act as being a liability
to a third party then the rights of the deceased debtor
against the insurer under that policy shall,
notwithstanding anything in any law to the contrary
contained, be transferred to and vest in the person to
whom the debt is owing.
(3) Any condition in a
policy issued for the purposes of this Act purporting
directly or indirectly to avoid the policy or to alter
the rights of the parties thereunder upon the happening
of any of the events specified in subsections (1) and
(2) shall be of no effect.
(4) Upon a transfer of
rights under subsection (1) or subsection (2) the
insurer shall, subject to the provisions of section 13,
be under the same liability to the third party as he
would have been under to the insured save that —
(a) if the liability of
the insurer to the insured exceeds the liability of the
insured to the third party nothing in this Act shall
affect the right of the insured against the insurer in
respect of such excess; and
(b) if the liability of
the insurer to the insured is less than the liability of
the insured to the third party nothing in this Act shall
affect the rights of the third party against the insured
in respect of the balance.
(5) The provisions of
this section and of sections 12 and 13 shall not apply—
(a) where a company is
wound up voluntarily merely for the purposes of
reconstruction or of amalgamation with another company;
or
Cap 94.
(b) to any case to
which the provisions of section 26 of the Workmen's
Compensation Ordinance applies.
(6) For the purposes of
this section and of sections 12 and 13 the expression
"liabilities to third parties" in relation to a person
insured under a policy of insurance shall not include
any liability of that person in the capacity of insurer
under some other policy of insurance.
Section 12—Duty to Give
Information to Third Parties.
(1) Any person against
whom a claim is made in respect of any liability
required to be covered by a policy under the provisions
of this Act shall on demand by or on behalf of the
person making such claim state whether or not he was
insured in respect of that liability by any policy
having effect for the purposes of this Act or would have
been so insured if the insurer had not cancelled or
avoided the policy and, if he were or would have been so
insured, give such particulars with regard to that
policy as were specified in the certificate of insurance
issued to him in respect thereof.
(2) In the event of any
person becoming bankrupt or making a composition or
arrangement with his creditors or in the event of an
order being made under the provisions of any law
relating to bankruptcy in respect of the estate of any
person or in the case of a winding-up order being made
or a resolution for a voluntary winding-up being passed
with respect to any company or of a receiver or manager
of the company's business or undertaking being duly
appointed or of possession being taken, by or on behalf
of the holders of any debentures secured by a floating
charge, of any property comprised in or subject to the
charge, it shall be the duty of the bankrupt debtor,
personal representative of the deceased debtor and, as
the case may be, of the official assignee, trustee,
liquidator, receiver, manager or person in possession of
the property to give at the request of any person
claiming in respect of a liability to him such
information as may reasonably be required to ascertain
whether any rights have been transferred to and vested
in him under the provisions of this Act, and for the
purpose of enforcing such rights, and any contract of
insurance in so far as it purports either directly or
indirectly to avoid the contract or to alter the rights
of the parties thereunder upon the giving of any such
information or otherwise to prohibit, prevent or limit
the giving of such information shall be of no effect.
(3) If the information
given to any person in pursuance of the provisions of
subsection (2) discloses reasonable grounds of belief
that rights have or may have been transferred to him
under the provisions of this Act against any particular
insurer that insurer shall be subject to the same duty
as is imposed by subsection (2) on the persons therein
mentioned.
(4) The duty imposed by
this section to give information shall include a duty to
allow all contracts of insurance, receipts for premiums
and other relevant documents in the possession, power or
control of the persons on whom the duty is so imposed to
be inspected and copies thereof to be taken.
(5) Any person who,
without reasonable excuse, the onus of proving which
shall be upon him, fails to comply with the provisions
of this section or who wilfully or negligently makes any
false or misleading statement in reply to a demand for
information, shall be guilty of an offence against this
Act.
Section 13—Certain
Settlements Between Insurer and Insured to be of No
Effect.
Where a person who is
insured under a policy issued for the purposes of this
Act has become bankrupt or where such insured person
being a company a winding-up order has been made or a
resolution for a voluntary winding-up has been passed
with respect to that company, no agreement made between
the insurer and the insured after liability has been
incurred to a third party and after the commencement of
the bankruptcy or the winding-up, as the case may be,
nor any waiver, assignment or other disposition made by
or payment made to the insured after such commencement
shall be effective to defeat or affect the rights
transferred to or vested in the third party under the
provisions of this Act and such rights shall be the same
as if no such agreement, waiver, assignment, disposition
or payment had been made.
Section 14—Bankruptcy,
Etc., of Insured Persons not to Affect Certain Claims.
Where under the
provisions of this Act a certificate of insurance has
been delivered to the person by whom a policy has been
effected the happening in relation to any person insured
by the policy of any of the events specified in
subsection (1) or subsection (2) of section 11,
notwithstanding anything in this Act contained, shall
not affect any such liability of that person as is
required to be covered by a policy under the provisions
of this Act, and nothing in this section shall affect
any rights against the insurer conferred under the
provisions of sections 11, 12 and 13 on the person to
whom the liability was incurred.
Section 15—Further
Rights of Third Parties Against Insurers.
(1) No settlement made
by an insurer in respect of any claim which might be
made by a third party in respect of any liability as is
required to be covered by a policy issued under the
provisions of this Act shall be valid unless such third
party is a party to such settlement.
(2) A policy issued
under the provisions of this Act shall remain in force
and available for third parties notwithstanding the
death of any person insured under such policy as if such
insured person were still alive.
Section 16—Duty to
Surrender Certificate on Cancellation of Policy.
Where a certificate of
insurance has been delivered under the provisions of
this Act to the person by whom a policy has been
effected and the policy is cancelled by mutual consent
or by virtue of any provision in the policy, the person
to whom such certificate was delivered shall, within
seven days from the taking effect of the cancellation of
such policy, surrender such certificate to the insurer
or if such certificate has been lost or destroyed make a
statutory declaration to that effect and any person
contravening the provisions of this section shall be
guilty of an offence against this Act.
Section 17—Certificate
to be Produced.
(1) Any person driving
a motor vehicle on a highway shall, on being so required
by a police officer, give his name and address and the
name and address of the owner of the motor vehicle and
shall produce his certificate of insurance and any
person contravening the provisions of this subsection
shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.
(2) In any case where
owing to the presence of a motor vehicle on a highway an
accident occurs involving bodily injury to any person
the driver of the motor vehicle shall produce his
certificate of insurance to a police officer or to any
person having reasonable grounds for requiring its
production and if any such driver for any reason fails
so to produce his certificate of insurance he shall so
soon as possible, and in any case within twenty-four
hours of the occurrence, report the accident and produce
his certificate of insurance to the police station
nearest to the scene of the accident or to the nearest
administrative officer and any person contravening the
provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an
offence against this Act.
No. 55 of 1952
(3) The provisions of
this section shall be in addition to and not in
derogation of the provisions of section 23 of the Road
Traffic Ordinance, 1952.
(4) In this section "to
produce a certificate of insurance" means to produce for
examination the relevant certificate of insurance or
certificate of security or such other evidence as may be
prescribed that the motor vehicle was not being driven
in contravention of the provisions of this Act
(5) In this section
"police officer" includes a member of the Ghana Police
Force, a member of a police force established and
maintained by a local authority, and an administrative
officer.
Section 18—Duty of
Owner to Give Information.
An owner of a motor
vehicle shall give such information as may be required
by a police officer for the purpose of determining
whether the motor vehicle was or was not being driven in
contravention of the provisions of this Act on any
occasion on which the driver was required to produce his
certificate and any owner failing so to do shall be
guilty of an offence against this Act.
Section 19—Deposits.
Where a sum is
deposited by any person under the provisions of section
5 or as a condition of approval by the Minister under
the provisions of section 6 or section 7 neither that
sum nor any part thereof shall, so long as any liability
being a liability required to be covered by a policy of
insurance under this Act which has been incurred by such
person remains undischarged or otherwise unprovided for,
be applicable in discharge of any other liabilities
incurred by such person.
Section 20—Offences.
(1) If any person for
the purpose of obtaining a certificate of insurance or a
certificate of security under the provisions of this Act
makes any statement either oral or written which is
false or misleading or withholds any material
information such person shall, unless he proves to the
satisfaction of the Court that he acted without any
intent to deceive, be guilty of an offence against this
Act and be liable, on conviction, to a fine not
exceeding two hundred pounds or to imprisonment for two
years or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(2) Any person who with
intent to deceive —
(a) forges, alters,
defaces or mutilates any certificate of insurance or
certificate of security or any other certificate or
document issued under this Act; or
(b) uses or allows to
be used by any other person any forged, altered, defaced
or mutilated certificate of insurance or certificate of
security or any other certificate or document issued
under this Act; or
(c) lends to or borrows
from any other person a certificate of insurance or a
certificate of security or any other certificate or
document issued under the provisions of this Act; or
(d) makes or has in his
possession any document so closely resembling any
certificate or document issued under the provisions of
this Act as to be calculated to deceive; or
(e) issues any
certificate of insurance or certificate of security or
other certificate or document to be issued under the
provisions of this Act,
shall be guilty of an
offence and liable on conviction, to a fine not
exceeding two hundred pounds or to imprisonment for two
years or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(3) If any police
officer has reasonable cause to believe that any
certificate of insurance or certificate of security or
any other certificate or document produced to him in
pursuance of the provisions of this Act by the driver or
owner of a motor vehicle is a document in relation to
which an offence under this section has been committed
he may seize the document and when any such document is
so seized the driver and the owner of such motor vehicle
or either of them shall, if neither of them has been
charged with an offence under the provisions of this
section, be summoned before a magistrate to account for
the possession of or the presence on the motor vehicle
of the said document and the magistrate may make such
order respecting the disposal of the document and award
such costs as he may deem just.
Section 21—Application
of Act to Securities.
(1) The provisions of
this Act shall apply in relation to securities or to
cash deposits and any certificate or document issued in
respect thereof, issued or made in accordance with the
provisions of this Act as such provisions apply in
relation to policies of insurance and in relation to any
such security or cash deposit and any certificate or
document issued in respect thereof and references in
this Act to being insured, to a certificate of
insurance, to an insurer and to persons insured shall be
construed as references to the having in force of the
security or of the cash deposit, to the certificate of
security or other certificate or document issued in
respect of a cash deposit, to the giver of the security
or the person making the cash deposit and to the persons
whose liability is covered by the security or the cash
deposit.
(2) In this Act
references to a certificate of insurance in any
provisions relating to the surrender or loss or
destruction of a certificate shall, in relation to
policies under which more than one certificate is issued
be construed as references to all or any of such
certificates and shall, where any copy of a certificate
has been issued, be construed as including a reference
to such copy.
Section 22—General
Penalty.
Any person who is
guilty of an offence against this Act for which no
special penalty is provided shall, on conviction, be
liable in respect of a first conviction, to a fine not
exceeding fifty pounds or six months imprisonment or to
both such fine and imprisonment and in the case of a
second or subsequent conviction to a fine of one hundred
pounds or to imprisonment for one year or to both such
fine and imprisonment.
Section 23—Power to
make Regulations.
The Governor-General
may make regulations for prescribing everything which
may be prescribed under the provisions of this Act and
generally for the purpose of putting this Act into
effect and in particular but without prejudice to the
generality of the foregoing provisions may make
regulations—
(a) prescribing the
forms to be used for the purposes of this Act;
(b) declaring approved
insurers;
(c) prescribing the
requirements in relation to securities either generally
or in particular case;
(d) as to application
for and the issue of certificates of insurance and any
other documents which may be prescribed and as to the
keeping of records of documents and the furnishing of
particulars thereof and the giving of information with
respect thereto;
(e) as to the issue of
copies of any certificates or documents which are lost,
mutilated or destroyed
(f) as to the custody,
production, cancellation and surrender of any such
certificates or other documents;
(g) for providing that
any of the provisions of this Act shall, in relation to
motor vehicles brought into Ghana by persons making only
a temporary stay in Ghana, have effect subject to such
modifications and adaptations as may be prescribed;
(h) with respect to the
payment of deposits and the documents to be issued in
relation thereto and the investments thereof and dealing
with the deposit of stocks or other securities in lieu
of money, the payment of the interest or dividends from
time to time accruing due on any securities in which
deposits may be for the time invested and the withdrawal
and transfer of deposits;
(i) prescribing fees to
be charged in respect of anything done under the
provisions of this Act;
(j) prescribing
penalties for the breach of any regulations made
hereunder not exceeding a fine of two hundred pounds or
imprisonment for two years or both such fine and
imprisonment.
Section 24—Repeal.
Cap. 229.
The Motor Vehicles
(Third Party Insurance) Ordinance is hereby repealed.
This printed impression
has been carefully compared by me with the Bill which
has passed the National Assembly, and found by me to be
a true and correctly printed copy of the said Bill.
K. B. AYENSU
Clerk of the National
Assembly.
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