Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, who also serves as the Steering Committee Chairperson for the Justice For All Program, has urged Ghana’s criminal justice institutions to expedite processes to reduce the prolonged periods accused persons spend in pretrial detention or remand.
Pretrial detainees constitute a significant proportion of Ghana’s prison population.
At Koforidua Prisons, for instance, remand prisoners account for 45% of inmates, with some held for as long as eight years without trial.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has described excessive and arbitrary pretrial detention as a severe form of human rights abuse.
It affects millions globally by deepening poverty, spreading diseases, and undermining the rule of law. Detainees often lose jobs and homes, endure extortion, and suffer long-lasting physical and psychological harm.
Speaking to the media at the Koforidua Prisons after court sittings under the Justice for All Program (JFP) on Wednesday, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe emphasized the importance of swift trials in ensuring justice and reducing overcrowding in prisons.
She referenced Article 14 (4) of the 1992 Constitution which provides that where a person is arrested, restricted, or detained under paragraph (a)or (b)of Clause (3) is not tried within a reasonable time then without prejudice to any further proceedings that may be brought against him, he shall be released either conditionally or unconditionally or upon reasonable condition including in particular conditions necessary to ensure that he appears at later date for trial or proceedings preliminary to trial.
She believes this provision is being abused “What constitutes reasonable time is yet to be properly determined and this sometimes results in long pretrial detentions leading to overcrowding across the country”.
She observed that “where the trials are delayed memories are faded evidence may be lost and there may be other issues”.
Justice Asare-Botwe underscored the need for all stakeholders in the justice system, including judges, prosecutors, investigators, and defense attorneys, to work collaboratively and expeditiously.
“I am confident and hopeful that in the future, criminal justice Institutions will collaborate to further reduce the period between arrest and final adjudication and this will certainly reduce the remand prisoners population”, she said.
The court proceedings at Koforidua Prisons under the Justice for All Program resulted in the discharge of two remand prisoners, and the conviction and release of a teenager who has been on remand for almost a year over the physical assault of his Auntie.
Also, eleven(11) others were granted bail,while two referred for psychiatric assessment.
These interventions aim to decongest the prisons.
Chief Superintendent of Prisons, Francis Agyirey-Kwakye, Officer in charge of the Koforidua Prisons, praised the program’s impact on decongesting the prisons.
Jonathan Osei-Owusu, Executive Director of the Perfector of Sentiments (POS) Foundation, revealed that since the program’s inception in 2007, Ghana’s remand prisoner population has dropped from 33% to 10.5%.
However, he expressed concerns about persistent prison congestion, attributed to increasing convictions.
Jonathan Osei-Owusu lamented that the Community Service Bill, which could provide non-custodial sentencing alternatives and ease overcrowding, could not be laid before the current Parliament is dissolved.
Some of the detainees who benefitted from the program including the school dropout teenager, Kudzo ,expressed their excitement and commended the Justice for All Program.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Kojo Ansah
