Judge states position on granting bail

Accra, July 16, GNA - Mrs. Justice Sophia O. Adinyira, a Judge of the Court of Appeal, on Monday said keeping thousands of people on remand without bringing them on trial within a reasonable time, was a blot on the human rights record of any country.

"Keeping a person on remand indefinitely often without the knowledge of a magistrate or a judge, is a total infringement of that person's human right to the protection of his personal liberty", she said. Mrs. Justice Adinyira was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, shortly after delivering an address on the topic, "50 years of criminal prosecution and criminal justice administration in Ghana: Challenges and prospects" at the opening of a three-week workshop for Police Prosecutors at the University of Ghana in Accra. She reiterated: "The conditions of our police cells and prisons infringe upon the human dignity of the inmates and contradicts Article 15 of the Constitution".

The Judge noted that the current and past Chief Justices of the country had repeatedly directed the courts to grant bail where the law did not forbid it.

Citing the law to buttress her point, she stated: "Section 96(7) of the Criminal and other Offences (Procedure) Act of 1960, Act 30 forbids bail in cases of treason, subversion, murder, robbery, hijacking, piracy, rape, defilement and escape from lawful custody, including a person being held for extradition to a foreign country". She asserted that, more often than not, the courts were requested by the Police Prosecutors to continue to keep accused persons on remand, because the police had not finished with investigations or that it could not trace witnesses.

The courts, out of frustration and in keeping with Article 14(4) of the Constitution, released such persons who had been in custody for a period of time to the chagrin of the police, she said.

Mrs. Justice Adinyira cautioned Police Officers in charge of police stations to comply with Section 16 of the Criminal and other Offences (Procedure) Act of 1960, Act 30 by reporting arrests they had made during the month to their nearest District Magistrates, adding: "This may ensure that persons are not unduly held in police cells without being granted bail or sent to court".

The Judge stated that if the police would treat complainants with dispatch and fairness, they would instil the confidence of the people in the administration of criminal justice.

She noted that it was the duty of the police to treat complainants with respect, so that people were encouraged to report crimes. "Proper treatment of complainants by the police is also very important. Poor handling of complainants had also been given as one of the reasons for people to resort to extra-legal methods of administering justice", she said.

Mrs. Justice Adinyira pointed out: "The point I have tried to make so far is to emphasize the vital role the police play in the pre-trial period, which contributes to a speedy and efficient administration of dispensing criminal justice in the country by the Judiciary".