Institutionalize in-prison paralegal program - CJ
The POS Foundation, an NGO, and its partners have partnered with the government through the “Justice for all program” from 2007 to 2020, to get 18.60% of prisoners discharged, and some 35.40% granted bail.
The Chief Justice, His Lordship Kwasi Anin Yeboah has called for the institutionalization of the concept of an in-prison paralegal program by periodically going through records of prisoners who were wrongfully imprisoned.
He further indicated that Ghana’s Justice System has a mechanism to assist persons who are wrongfully convicted.
However, he bemoaned the fact that this mechanism usually can be triggered by only those who have the financial means. Therefore he made a call on the state to institute a program that will ensure a well-funded national legal Aid Scheme.
The Chief Justice made this known today, June 25, 2021, in a statement read on his behalf by Justice Gabriel Pwamang, a Justice of the Supreme Court at the Law Complex in Accra during the premiering of a documentary on “ The untold story of Ama Forson.”
Ama Forson, who is a food vendor, was jailed for 11 years for possessing narcotics but got discharged after serving almost more than half of her prison term.
Through the In-prison paralegal program by the POS Foundation, the 67 –year-old has been acquitted and discharged after she appealed.
Furthermore, the Chief Justice noted that the law ensures that innocent people are not punished for the crimes of criminals through its elaborate and complex nature.
The POS Foundation, an NGO, and its partners have partnered with the government through the “Justice for all program” from 2007 to 2020, to get 18.60% of prisoners discharged, and some 35.40% granted bail. They are still empowering inmates to personally file an appeal against wrongful incarceration and to deal with the miscarriage of Justice by hiring good lawyers to cross-examine evidence that has been adduced against inmates.
