Custody time limit impact on prison congestion in Ghana
The adage ''Nature cannot be cheated" is a tune successive governments fail to dance to anytime issues of congestion in the country’s prisons surface.
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The fact that over 70 per cent of the country’s prisons were built during the colonial era without commitment to a practical containment plan for the increasing population explains it all.
There is no correlation between crime tracking and vigilance efforts and adequate preparation for the final destination of offenders, which is the prison.
The attitude of seeing the prison system as subservient to other state institutions is the architect of this long-experienced congestion problem.
This syndrome has been inimical and remains a bane to the progress of the system and well-being of offenders who equally deserve healthy and dignifying living conditions as humans.
Congestion in the prisons has undoubtedly become an albatross on the neck of the Prison Administration and the country as a whole with far-reaching effects on the incarcerated. It causes excessive strain on the limited amenities and accommodation facilities and counters daily efforts aimed at improving the environmental conditions of the prisons.
It is in view of this that the in-progress initiative by the Ghana Prisons Service to hold the bull by the horn by vigorously pursuing a permanent solution to congestion is relieving and worth applauding by all.
Guidelines launched
Though the concept of Custody Time Limit, which first surfaced at a stakeholders’ conference on Remand Administration in 2013, was warmly received, its feasibility anticipated challenges.
But the collaborative resolve of the Prisons Service, stakeholders and international partners has defied the odds. The thirst for its success has so far beckoned assurance of hope as the parent document couched Sentencing Guidelines for Judges has already been launched.
Custody Time Limit is an essential element of a definite sentencing policy which stipulates specific period of remanding and sentences for specific crimes. This policy, whose implementation will blow a new wind of fresh breath, brings many benefits to the Criminal Justice System in Ghana.
Importance of the guidelines
With its introduction, the vagueness ,which hitherto gave room for undue delays in prosecuting, will be largely checked. This will lessen public complaints over perceived inconsistencies in sentences pertaining to same crime and boost public trust and confidence in the Judiciary.
Implementing this policy will also contribute to the reduction in overcrowding in the prisons as persons remanded will no longer overstay in custody in the absence of reasonable evidence for their trial. This will help mitigate the human suffering overcrowding visits on prisoners in the country.
The Roger Coventry Centre for Paralegal Services in the Central Prisons across the country is a major step towards this direction. The centre is to effectively liaise with the police and courts by monitoring remand warrants to ensure their speedy trial.
Lifeline
The lifeblood of this policy will be the continuous cooperation and support of stakeholders towards the realisation of its goal of ensuring that justice is served to the citizenry. To ensure this policy works to its fullest potential requires all hands on deck.
While Roger Coventry and other pioneers of this laudable policy will ever be remembered for working round the clock to see it materialise, persons privileged to contribute towards this aim have a call to contribute wholeheartedly in the interest of justice.
Writer’s Email:[email protected]
The writer is an Assistant Superintendent of Prisons at the Sekondi Central Prison