Africa-Press – Ghana. Justice Dominic Dennis Adjei, Appeals Court Judge, has urged judges and magistrates to stop delegating their powers of remand to court clerks.
He said it was only judges and magistrates who had the power to remand and they must not give that judicial power to court clerks to extend days of cases.
“We must ensure that when we remand, we keep an eye on those remanded cases, record them in our diaries so when we are sitting, we look at those cases for consideration for bail or for hearing. Because we do not follow, remand prisoners are kept in prison for months, and years.”
Justice Adjei made the call at the opening of a workshop on the Narcotic Control Commission Act 2020(ACT 1019) for selected judges and magistrates from the Eastern, Greater Accra, Volta, Central and Western Regions, in Accra.
The day’s workshop organised by the POS Foundation and the Judicial Training Institute in partnership with the International Drug Policy Consortium and others was on the theme: “Understanding the Narcotic Control Commission Act 20202 (Act 1019): the role of the judges in health and rights-based best practices to handling people who use drugs in the implementation of the Act.”
Justice Adjei said judges were responsible for the congestion and decongestion of the prisons because they were reminding persons in accordance with the old narcotic drugs Act which had its inherent problems. He, however, noted that this was also because, as judges they gave a different interpretation to the Act.
“Some judges had the opinion that before one uses drug, the person possesses it. According to the law possession had a minimum sentence of 10 years, while use had a minimum sentence of five years. But the law maker intended that when it is for use then the possession must be suppressed.”
The Appeals Court Judge added that the old law did not consider the interest of persons who use drugs even though it was not permissible but provided a fine of jail term as punishment, but the new Act has clearly stated the position.
“It has also referred to sentencing and procedure. We cannot decide on matters affecting those engaged in narcotics without considering the mental health aspect anymore.”
The Director of Prisons, Samuel Adjei-Attah, said the effect of overcrowding on proper prison classification and effective reformation and rehabilitation, among others, could not be over emphasized.
He said it was heartwarming that the Act had made provision for alternatives to imprisonment, including fines for the offences of drug possession for personal use. However, the Service still receives persons convicted and sentenced to prisons for the offence of use of narcotic drugs, he said.
“As of May 26, 2022, persons convicted for narcotics and drug related offences account for 3.8 percent of the convict population of 12, 602 nationwide, of which majority of them were in their youthful age between 18 to 35 years.”
Mr Adjei-Attah assured the Services’ support for appropriate alternatives to imprisonment for such people and advocated that group of users should be referred to the appropriate rehabilitation centres for treatment instead of incarceration, considering the risk of contamination and other challenges for such people.
Mr Jonathan Osei Owusu, Executive Director POS Foundation, said the workshop aimed to sensitize critical stakeholders, particularly judges of the Lower and higher courts, to know their roles in the Narcotics Drug Act delivery, while consulting them on the best practices in the implementation process.
He said the new law represented an important example for drug policy reform advocacy in West Africa and sought to treat drug use and dependency as a public health issue rather than focusing on law enforcement, incarceration, punishment and repression.
He said Ghana’s criminal justice system was the envy of many countries in Africa, adding, however, that there were still so many legislative and policy loopholes that needed to be blocked.
“Our aim is to find a way to decongest the prisons rather than building more prison facilities, and to ensure that drug use is treated as a public health issue.”
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