Judicial Service moves to decongest prisons

The Judicial Service has dedicated the months of April and May 2015 solely to the hearing of cases involving remandees. That forms part of measures by the service to decongest the prisons which are currently over-populated.

Ghana’s prisons should hold a total of 9,000 prisoners, but they are currently bursting at the seams with a population of more than 14,000 inmates. Those on remand alone account for about 5,000.

The Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, who announced this at a day’s conference for judges, lawyers and the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, dubbed: ‘the Faculty-Bench-Bar Conference’, in Accra yesterday, said as a start, six circuit courts in Accra had been selected to carry out the assignment.

The aim of the conference was to create a useful opportunity outside the formal atmosphere of the courtroom for judges, practising lawyers at the bar and in industry, as well as those engaged in the teaching of law, to meet for a free exchange of views on diverse issues affecting the legal profession, the administration of justice, the rule of law and the governance of the country in general.

Describing the state of remand prisoners in the country as sordid, Mrs Justice Wood stressed the need for an urgent collective action now.

“I have decided to speak to you on this, given the centrality of the issue to the hearts of Ghanaians and on my own lamentations,” she said.

She said it was generally thought that judges were to blame for the menace because they issued the remand orders, adding that they bore the ultimate responsibility for ensuring the expeditious release of innocent persons among those accused.

He said even though lawyers and prosecutors could hardly escape legitimate blame, the urgency of the matter on hand did not make the shifting of blame prudent.

“It is a blot on our collective conscience and I must state here and now, rather sadly that it is a big shame, given our professed love for democracy, our pride of place in society as the lead promoters and defenders of the rule of law; not to mention our God-given role as agents of change,” she said. 

Incessant adjournments

Mrs Justice Wood cautioned against the practice of lawyers and prosecutors constantly seeking adjournments, saying “when lawyers and prosecutors incessantly seek adjournments, they encourage prison congestion”.

She said it was disturbing that there was a massive lack of a public defender system, adding that that might probably be the leading cause of the present situation in the prisons.

She, therefore, urged the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), as a matter of urgency,  to put in place mechanisms that would encourage and promote more pro bono work.

The General Legal Council, she said, would be happy to collaborate with the GBA in ensuring the effectiveness of such an arrangement.

“The challenges confronting our country demand our bold resolve to provide interventions for solutions,” she urged.