CHRI holds validation workshop on “Turn-around time in criminal justice administration”
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has held a validation workshop on a draft report on “Turn-around Time in Criminal Justice Administration in Ghana.”
The draft study report was based on a monitoring exercise by CHRI which took place in only 14 police stations in Accra and Kumasi, from January to June this year; to determine the average turnaround time for cases referred to the Attorney-General’s (AG’s) Department for advice.
Cases reviewed included those for which the dockets have been referred to the AG’s Department and those under trial and have been consistently adjourned.
The objective of the study is to produce an evidence-based report on the average turn-around time for cases referred by the Police to the AG’s Department which will be used as an advocacy tool to support demands for improved case management structures to enhance justice delivery.
Mr Edmund Amarkwei Foley, Head, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Ghana Institute of Public Administration (GIMPA), presented findings of the report at a day’s validation workshop in Accra.
He said of the 14 police stations, which they visited, they got responses from eight of them, of which three were in Accra and five were in Kumasi.
He said the findings were that out of a total number of 42 dockets from eight police stations that had been sent to the AG’s for advice, feedback on 29 had been received while 13 were still pending.
He said of the dockets on which advice were given, majority 22 were between one and two months; adding that only two dockets lasted for more than nine months before advice was given.
With regard to the 13 pending dockets, Mr Foley said most of them (eight) had been at the AG’s for periods ranging from seven to 12 months.
“It appeared from the findings that cases were responded to within a shorter period in Kumasi as compared to Accra,” Mr Foley stated.
He said regarding cases under trial which were persistently adjourned and the reasons thereto, the study noted the key reasons for the adjournments as absence of prosecutors, unfinished investigations and absence of witnesses.
The study recommends improve staff strength at the AG’s Department, and that staff at AG’s Department working on cases should be separated from those prosecuting cases in court to enable the former have time to work on cases sent to them.
It called for proper supervision at the police stations to reduce the number of errors made to facilitate quick movement of cases from the stations to the A-G’s office.
It suggested an established system of transmission of cases from the police district level to the AG’s Department, and that sanctions were given to officers who delay in working on their cases.
Mr Gideon Neequaye, Project Officer, Access to Justice, CHRI, said over the years CHRI has been successful in ensuring that police stations that form part of its target area had been decongested by 50-70 per cent.
Superintendent Elizabeth Viney, Director, Legal and Prosecution, Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service, appealed to CHRI to also involve the CID Headquarters in the conduction of the study.
She said some of the causes of the delays in criminal prosecution were due to the numerous cases they receive.
Madam Esi Dentaa Yankah, State Attorney, Prosecution Division, Office of the AG, gave an overview of the work of the State Attorneys with regards to responding to dockets submitted by the Police to the AG’s Department for advice.
She said the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution was not adequately resourced for speedy response to cases; adding that “the major issue in terms of logistics was human resources. We have very low numbers of attorneys for the numbers of dockets that we receive in our office”.
Madam Daphne Lariba Nabila, Executive Director, Legal Resources Centre, who chaired the function, said there have been a lot of delays in the movement of dockets from the police to the AG’s office for advice and vice versa because of bureaucracies.
“We are saying that the bureaucracy is too much. The two agencies can look at it and see how they can shorten the length of time in which cases move for advice from the CID Headquarters to the AG’s Department and back. So that people’s whose rights are violated would get some justice in court.”
Source: GNA