News

Alternative Bills Go To Parliament To Decongest Prisons –Attorney - General

• By Bonfil Akai
• November 19, 2021
• 0

The Attorney-General (A-G) and the Minister of Justice, Mr. God Fred Yeboah Dame, will soon lay before Parliament two bills that will provide other sentencing than imprisonment for accused individuals and convicts.

The new bills are the Plea Bargaining Bill and the Alternative Sentencing Bill.
The Plea bargaining bill is when an accused person makes some concessions, either by wholly or partly admitting his or her guilt or assisting in the investigation and prosecution of others, in exchange for the dropping of charges against the accused or reduced sentences.

Where the Alternative Sentencing allows a court to sentence a convict to do community service and other options other than imprisonment.

When passed into law, the two bills are expected to reduce the backlog of criminal cases in courts, as well as assist Decongest the country's overcrowded prisons.

According to Mr Egyir, the current prison population stood at 13,559, out of which 1,5753 were on remand. 

Mr Dame said, the cabinet has given a go ahead for the Plea Bargaining Bill to be laid before Parliament, which the Alternative Sentencing Bill "is going the process of stakeholder consultations and will soon be laid before Parliament on conclusion of same". 

The Plea bargaining bill would be an amendment to the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30), with the Alternative Sentencing Bill being a fully fledged Act of Parliament, he said. 

The Plea Bargaining Bill law would not be wholesale, as some crimes would be exempted. "Treason, violent offences such as rape, genocide, robbery, kidnapping, murder, abduction, defilement, piracy and offences related to public elections will be excluded from the Plea Bargaining. Aside these offences, plea bargaining will be available in all other cases, " he said. 

Despite the line of work of the Attorney-General, he was very concerned about the welfare of prisoners.

Source: Bonfil Akai