Ghana's prisons to be decongested
Gilbert Boyefio
01/11/2006
Plans are underway to decongest prisons in the country by the close of the year. To this end, the Legal Aid scheme, in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme, are in the process of collecting data on people remanded by the courts who have been languishing in prisons for many years awaiting prosecution.
According to statistics from the International Centre for Prison Studies, the country's 46 prison facilities comprising 45 prisons and 1 borstal institute are seriously overcrowded.
Currently, the occupancy level based on the official capacity of the National Prison system of 8,004 has been exceeded by 56.6 percent. The total prison population, including pre-trial detainees or remand prisoners, is 12,531.
It has been observed that, there is a growing trend in the rate at which people are incarcerated. In 1996 the national prison population stood at 7,076. It rose to 9,523 in 1999 and 10,444 in 2001. This shot up to 11,624 in 2002.
According to a report by the Legal Resources Centre, a non-governmental human rights organisation, the rules of criminal procedure and legislation and regulations governing prisoners and prison conditions do not condone the violation of certain rights of incarcerated persons either before and during trial, or after conviction. However, due to a dearth of lawyers interested in pursuing cases of detained indigent persons and ensuring strict compliance with existing rules, inevitably results in failure to obtain bail, delays in trials, long incarcerations and wrongful convictions.
The report expressed concern that a reform of the prisons sector without corresponding reforms in related areas, especially, the Judiciary and the Police service, would be of less than optimum effect.
"We need to initiate complementary reforms in the Police Service so that, to take one little example, the police will be up to the task of fetching prisoners to court when their cases are due for hearing and not abandon them to their fate in the prisons," the report stated.
It further appealed to the Judiciary to rethink its sentencing policy and seriously consider non-custodial sentences in deserving cases. "The analyses of our questionnaires show that some judges are too eager to throw convicts into jail and persons on trial into remand prisons or police cells".
In an interview with The Statesman, the Director of Legal Aid, Felix Korley, said an initial observation made on a 3-day exercise at the Nsawam prison, which is being used as a pilot project, shows that there is a lot of work to be done at the various prisons. He expressed fears that if immediate steps are not taken to decongest the prisons, it stands the risk of becoming a training house for people on remand, since they are mixed with convicted felons.
Mr Korley said the project for the collection of data on remanded prisoners is to help LAS and its partners to assess data on which to base their interventions for the prisoners. The LAS would be working hand-in-hand with the Attorney General"s office and the Judicial Service.
The LAS was established by the Legal Aid Scheme Act 1997, Act 542. It exists to provide efficient and effective legal services to the poor in Ghanaian society at a minimal cost, to enable them defend and prosecute their human and legal rights so that all citizens can go about their economic, social and political activities in freedom and with a sense of security.
Mr Korley observed that although the scheme is willing and ready to provide legal assistance to those who may be deprived of that service because they cannot afford to pay for them, or those on remand, or seeking judicial review, the Scheme is constrained in human resources as well as logistics.
He said that although the scheme seeks to ensure that diligent and committed legal personnel are made available to provide the needed services, many lawyers in private practice are not enthusiastic to undertake legal aid cases because of the low remuneration.
"Litigation is an expensive process," he explained.
He noted that due to the costs involved in litigation, the board has been promoting the concept of Alternate Dispute Resolution to resolve most of their cases. He disclosed that 40 legal aid lawyers from the Northern and Southern sectors are being trained in ADR with the help of UNDP.
According to Mr Korley, in order to bring legal aid services to the door steps of the poor in Ghanaian society, educate and create awareness of the services of the board throughout the country, the board would be introducing community mediation centres on a regional basis throughout the country. "We want to increase the coverage of legal aid before the end of the year, and to this effect, 30 National Service Personnel are going to be trained and sent to the regional offices to help in mediation and awareness creation", he added.
Explaining who qualifies for legal aid, Mr Korley said for the purposes of enforcing any provision of the constitution, a person is entitled to legal aid in connection with any proceedings relating to the constitution, if the person has reasonable grounds for taking, defending, prosecuting or being a party to the proceedings.
He said legal aid, is also available to any person who earns the government minimum wage or less and desires legal representation in any legal matter, relating to issues such as landlord and tenant, insurance, and inheritance, with particular reference to the intestate succession law, 1985 (PNDC law 111), maintenance of children, and such other civil matters as may from time to time be prescribed by Parliament.
On the process, he said it is the selection committee who after interviewing an applicant, determines whether he or she is qualified for legal aid or not.
01/11/2006
Plans are underway to decongest prisons in the country by the close of the year. To this end, the Legal Aid scheme, in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme, are in the process of collecting data on people remanded by the courts who have been languishing in prisons for many years awaiting prosecution.
According to statistics from the International Centre for Prison Studies, the country's 46 prison facilities comprising 45 prisons and 1 borstal institute are seriously overcrowded.
Currently, the occupancy level based on the official capacity of the National Prison system of 8,004 has been exceeded by 56.6 percent. The total prison population, including pre-trial detainees or remand prisoners, is 12,531.
It has been observed that, there is a growing trend in the rate at which people are incarcerated. In 1996 the national prison population stood at 7,076. It rose to 9,523 in 1999 and 10,444 in 2001. This shot up to 11,624 in 2002.
According to a report by the Legal Resources Centre, a non-governmental human rights organisation, the rules of criminal procedure and legislation and regulations governing prisoners and prison conditions do not condone the violation of certain rights of incarcerated persons either before and during trial, or after conviction. However, due to a dearth of lawyers interested in pursuing cases of detained indigent persons and ensuring strict compliance with existing rules, inevitably results in failure to obtain bail, delays in trials, long incarcerations and wrongful convictions.
The report expressed concern that a reform of the prisons sector without corresponding reforms in related areas, especially, the Judiciary and the Police service, would be of less than optimum effect.
"We need to initiate complementary reforms in the Police Service so that, to take one little example, the police will be up to the task of fetching prisoners to court when their cases are due for hearing and not abandon them to their fate in the prisons," the report stated.
It further appealed to the Judiciary to rethink its sentencing policy and seriously consider non-custodial sentences in deserving cases. "The analyses of our questionnaires show that some judges are too eager to throw convicts into jail and persons on trial into remand prisons or police cells".
In an interview with The Statesman, the Director of Legal Aid, Felix Korley, said an initial observation made on a 3-day exercise at the Nsawam prison, which is being used as a pilot project, shows that there is a lot of work to be done at the various prisons. He expressed fears that if immediate steps are not taken to decongest the prisons, it stands the risk of becoming a training house for people on remand, since they are mixed with convicted felons.
Mr Korley said the project for the collection of data on remanded prisoners is to help LAS and its partners to assess data on which to base their interventions for the prisoners. The LAS would be working hand-in-hand with the Attorney General"s office and the Judicial Service.
The LAS was established by the Legal Aid Scheme Act 1997, Act 542. It exists to provide efficient and effective legal services to the poor in Ghanaian society at a minimal cost, to enable them defend and prosecute their human and legal rights so that all citizens can go about their economic, social and political activities in freedom and with a sense of security.
Mr Korley observed that although the scheme is willing and ready to provide legal assistance to those who may be deprived of that service because they cannot afford to pay for them, or those on remand, or seeking judicial review, the Scheme is constrained in human resources as well as logistics.
He said that although the scheme seeks to ensure that diligent and committed legal personnel are made available to provide the needed services, many lawyers in private practice are not enthusiastic to undertake legal aid cases because of the low remuneration.
"Litigation is an expensive process," he explained.
He noted that due to the costs involved in litigation, the board has been promoting the concept of Alternate Dispute Resolution to resolve most of their cases. He disclosed that 40 legal aid lawyers from the Northern and Southern sectors are being trained in ADR with the help of UNDP.
According to Mr Korley, in order to bring legal aid services to the door steps of the poor in Ghanaian society, educate and create awareness of the services of the board throughout the country, the board would be introducing community mediation centres on a regional basis throughout the country. "We want to increase the coverage of legal aid before the end of the year, and to this effect, 30 National Service Personnel are going to be trained and sent to the regional offices to help in mediation and awareness creation", he added.
Explaining who qualifies for legal aid, Mr Korley said for the purposes of enforcing any provision of the constitution, a person is entitled to legal aid in connection with any proceedings relating to the constitution, if the person has reasonable grounds for taking, defending, prosecuting or being a party to the proceedings.
He said legal aid, is also available to any person who earns the government minimum wage or less and desires legal representation in any legal matter, relating to issues such as landlord and tenant, insurance, and inheritance, with particular reference to the intestate succession law, 1985 (PNDC law 111), maintenance of children, and such other civil matters as may from time to time be prescribed by Parliament.
On the process, he said it is the selection committee who after interviewing an applicant, determines whether he or she is qualified for legal aid or not.
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