Plea bargaining best recognizes victims’ involvement in the Criminal justice system- Asonaba Dapaah

A Deputy Attorney General, Dianah Asonaba Dapaah is enthused about the newly adopted Plea bargaining regime in the nation’s Criminal justice system especially relative to the role of victims.

According to her, the concept of the Plea bargain will for the first time recognize and champion the role of victims, complainants, or their representatives in the criminal justice system.

“One of the outcomes of Plea Bargaining is that the accused person may agree to pay compensation to the victim or to make restitution.

So you realize that unlike previously, the victim plays a crucial role in the whole criminal justice delivery system, and for me, that is a good thing.”

The President, Nana Akufo-Addo on Friday, July 22, 2022, assented to the amended Criminal and other Offences(Procedure) Act 1960(Act 30) to provide for plea bargaining in the administration of criminal justice.

The new Act titled Criminal and other Offences (Procedure) (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act 1079) focuses on Plea Bargaining.

As it pertains to other jurisdictions, plea bargaining allows an accused person to relinquish their rights to go full trial in a criminal proceeding in exchange for some benefits.

Even though there existed some few instances where plea bargaining existed for very few offenses like Subsections (2) and (3) of Section 239 of Act 30, Section 35 of the Courts Act, 1993(Act 459), Act 959, and Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020(Act 1019), majority of offenses under Ghana’s criminal jurisdiction are generally excluded from plea bargaining.

Per the Act, a person charged with a criminal offense may at the time before judgment, negotiate with the Attorney General for a plea agreement to reduce a crime charged to a lesser offense or to withdraw a charge against an accused person.

Speaking on the Law program on Sunday, September 5, 2022, the Deputy AG reiterated that the Plea bargain seeks to introduce restorative justice which she said includes the victim in the criminal justice delivery system.

Furthermore, she added that in the past, the interest of victims was disregarded however the newly adopted Plea bargain will enable victims, complainants, or their representatives to make inputs into the plea agreement negotiated between the prosecutor and the accused person.

Also, Miss Dapaah stated that the role of the victims stretches as far as they can even object to the Plea Agreement and that the Prosecutor shall not conclude the agreement without a victim’s involvement or the complainant.

Additionally, the court which supervises such an agreement before enforcement, per the Deputy AG, is charged to invite or receive representations from the victim or the complainant.

Authorization of Plea bargaining

The Attorney General may by notice in writing authorize a prosecutor or a class of prosecution to conduct plea bargaining in respect of a specified matter.

Also, a plea agreement cannot be concluded by a prosecutor who is not an officer of the Office of the Attorney General without the consent of the AG.