A justice of the Court of Appeal, Sir Dennis Adjei, has advised the general public not to pay money to the Police when being granted bail. According to Justice Sir Adjei, bail is free and that any attempt by a police officer to collect money before giving bail, will amount to bribery and corruption, and the sentence could vary from 12 to 25 years imprisonment.
He said the punishment is very dire because it is unlawful for any public officer to collect money before discharging his or her duty. The Court of Appeal Judge further warned that since the giver of bribe is equally guilty as the taker, the public must be wary of the offence and should avoid falling victim.
“…because I’m asking you to come and stand surety and because I’m telling you that go home and come to court at the next available date then pay so much. What item are you selling? If there is no item you are selling, there cannot be price for it. So bail is for free.
“If any person charge for bail, the person commits criminal offence and all of us (judges) are public officers. So if a police man takes money for bail, it amounts to corruption,” he emphasised.
Justice Sir Adjei said this while lecturing journalists, on the theme, “Understanding Ghana’s Criminal Justice and Reforms, the Impact on National Development” at a day’s workshop organised by Perfect or of Sentiments (POS) Foundation, in collaboration with the Judicial Service of Ghana and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) in Accra, yesterday.
Sir Dennis Adjei also added that the Police have no right to detain any suspect beyond 48 hours and that the days bail was used as a means of punishment are gone. The justice explained that the 48 hours include weekends and statutory holidays, since the courts now sit on weekends and judges are ready to sit when called to duty, saying “keeping people on weekend and holidays as punishment is now a thing of the past.”
His Lordship could not fathom why in 1969, the law allows only 24 hours detention after arrest, but 48 hours is not enough in this contemporary time, where access to vehicles and other facilities are available for justice delivery. He also spoke against the act whereby the Police will send suspects to court that has no jurisdiction over a matter.
The Judge indicated that juvenile cases must be tried within a period of six months else the minor involved must be given unconditional discharge, while those found culpable of the offence are not to be imprisoned, but sent to correctional centres for three years maximum. In an address read on behalf of the Director-General of Prisons Service (PS), Mr Isaac Kofi Egyir, he indicated that 59 inmates of the Nsawam Medium Security Prison were matriculated into various diploma programmes by the University of Cape Coast.
He added that 273 of the prison inmates had gained admission to Senior High School, 1,320, National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) and 584, Junior High School, bringing the total to 2,236. Mr Egyir added that despite the strides being made, the prisons are still overcrowded.
The Director-General commended the effort of POS Foundation and that the Justice for All Programme has witnessed a decline in the number of remand prisoners from 72.42% in 2007 to 35.11% as September 2021. Executive Director of POS Foundation, Jonathan Osei Owusu, suggested that community service should replace some of the custodial sentences.
