Twelve individuals facing serious criminal charges, including murder, have been released after evidence revealed that the state had been sluggish in prosecuting their cases.
Many of these individuals, some of whom have been in custody for nearly a decade, had made fewer than four court appearances since their arrest.
Ghana’s criminal justice system is grounded in the respect for the human rights of suspects, as enshrined in Article 14 of Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution.
This article guarantees the right to personal liberty and stipulates that deprivation of liberty is only permissible under specific conditions.
Under the law, a person cannot be held in custody for more than 48 hours without being brought before a court.
The court then has the discretion to grant or deny bail. If the trial is delayed unreasonably, Article 14(4) of the Constitution allows the court to release the suspect either conditionally or unconditionally.
Despite these protections, there have been cases where individuals were kept on remand without timely trials.
To address this issue, the Judiciary introduced the Justice for All programme, which involves holding hearings within selected prisons for inmates awaiting trial.
At the Nsawam Medium Prison, 24 inmates were reviewed, resulting in 12 being discharged, 10 granted bail, and 2 denied bail. Among those discharged was Kwabena Nyarko, who had been on remand since July 2016.
Although granted bail in 2017, he could not meet the bail terms. Due to inaction by state prosecutors, Justice Kofi Akuffo ordered his release.
Another case involved an individual accused of theft and unlawful entry. Despite being granted bail set at 40,000 Ghana Cedis, he was imprisoned for over a year due to his inability to meet the bail conditions, and had not appeared in court.
Kofi Afum, charged with murder, had been on remand since 2018, despite recommendations from the Office of the Attorney General for his release.
Samuel Owusu Addo, accused of murder and held for nearly 11 years, was also discharged due to a lack of evidence and details on his case from state prosecutors.
Additionally, a 67-year-old and a 51-year-old man were released after spending seven and eight years, respectively, at Nsawam Prison without active prosecution of their cases.
The judiciary reports that such cases have significantly decreased since the implementation of the Justice for All programme.
Prison officials and the PoS Foundation, who facilitate the programme, are urging the cabinet to expedite the Community Sentencing Bill to further address these issues.