Justice for All launched to decongest prisons

Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General’s Department yesterday launched its “Justice for All” programme as part of efforts to decongest the country’s prisons.
Under the programme, a special court is sitting at the James Fort Prisons in Accra to review all second degree felony and misdemeanour cases.
While the court is sitting, another team will be conducting verification exercises on all such cases to ensure that cases referred to tally with the persons being dealt with.
The programme does not include non-bailable offences such as narcotics, armed robbery and rape.
It is expected to be reviewed within a month to streamline its procedures and processes in order for it to be replicated throughout the country.
At its first sitting, two remand prisoners, Ibrahim Bendy, 18, and Paul Jacobs were discharged after the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs Gertrude Aikins, entered a nulle prosequi.
Ibrahim was charged for causing unlawful damage by destroying 18 louvre blades and the ceiling of her grandmother’s house, the value of which was put at ¢2 million, and he has been in custody since April 4, 2006. His trial was yet to start.
For his part, Paul, who has been in custody since 2005, was charged for threat of harm and destruction of property. Although his trial had begun, there had been 20 adjournments in the case, whose maximum sentence was to be three years.
Mrs Aikins argued that the accused persons had been unduly held for offences for which they would have finished their sentences if they had been convicted.
The first sitting of the court attracted the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, the Interior Minister, Mr Kwamena Bartels, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr P. K. Acheampong.
Launching the programme earlier, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, had noted that apart from bringing justice to all, the programme would help decongest the prisons.
He gave the assurance that the exercise would be carried out responsibly so that justice was brought to the accused, the complainant and society, adding that criminals would not be unleashed onto society.
He said as part of the verification exercise, the team would examine the number of persons on remand, the reasons for which they were being held and how long they had been on remand.
Mr Ghartey said 91 cases had been listed so far for the court to decide on them.
The UNDP Resident Co-ordinator, Mr Daouda Traore, who presented 20 desktop computers and 15 laptops, worth $53,000, to the ministry at the ceremony, noted that access to justice was a critical component of any fledgling democracy.
He said access to justice also underlined the principles of human rights and helped in the attainment of sustainable human development.
He said the donation was a demonstration of the UNDP’s commitment to support the ministry to improve access to justice, ensure the rule of law, respect for human rights and promote democratic governance.
“The pile up of unresolved cases at the courts, the rise in demand for access to justice and the unfortunate resort to instant mob justice, in some cases, provide enough justification that this collaboration to transform the ministry to meet the increasing demand for justice is most apt,” he added.
The Executive Director of the Committee on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ghana), Mrs Veronica Ayikwei Kofie, expressed the hope that the project would be successful so that other African countries would follow up on the Ghanaian example.
She said that should be the beginning of a review of the penal system in the country so that people could be committed to communal service.
Mrs Kofie called for the strengthening of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system to help deal with minor cases so that the courts themselves would not be congested.
A representative of the Ghana Prisons Service, Superintendent Nathaniel Agyeman Onyinah, said the service was at the receiving end of the justice delivery system.
He said although the capacity of the prisons was 8,004, there was a 13,685 prisoner population, 4,210 of them on remand, some since 1999.
The Director of Legal Aid, Mr Felix Korley, described the exercise as a national one which should be embraced by all.
The Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney-General, Mr Kwame Osei-Prempeh, noted that the United Kingdom had also embarked on a similar exercise to decongest its prisons.
He said while the capacity of the prisons in the UK was 45,000, there were currently more than 80,000 prisoners.