The government is currently working on an act that will provide alternative sentences for minor offences, the Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame, has said.
According to the Minister, his outfit, together with the Ministry of the Interior, has worked on some four draft bills, known as the Community Sentencing Bill, towards the promulgation of the act.
“I consider the passage of an Alternative Sentencing Act an urgent necessity to introduce alternative sentences for minor offences…In this regard, four drafts Community Sentencing Bill prepared by the Office of the Attorney-General and co-sponsored by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice is going through stakeholder consultations,” the Minister said.
He made this known in Parliament during question time on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
He was responding to a question put to him by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Lawyer Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu.
The Madina Legislator asked the Minister what measures were being taken to amend the Criminal and other offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30) to provide alternative sentences for petty crimes.
Minister Yeboah Dame said he considered the act very important, because aside it providing alternative sentences for petty offences, it would also serve as a further mechanism to reduce congestion in Ghana’s prisons, “… and also as a further mechanism to reduce congestion in our prisons,” the Minister noted.
He said the four draft bills would be laid before Parliament upon the conclusion of the engagements.
