Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, Attorney -General and Minister of Justice, has expressed concern about the increasingly large number of persons remanded in the country's prisons.
The development did not augur well for the quick dispensation of justice for a country like Ghana, which upheld the rule of law, Nana Akuffo-Addo told a meeting with High Court Judges, Chairmen of the Regional Public Tribunals, the Regional Police Commander and other Police officers at a durbar held with State Attorneys from the Northern Sector in Kumasi on Monday.
The Attorney -General reminded the public that a suspect irrespective of his position in society was presumed innocent until proved otherwise by a competent court of jurisdiction. This principle, he said, had been breached and attributed this partly to the long and winding processes of dealing with criminal cases.
Nana Akuffo-Addo noted that in most cases judges became frustrated when suspects were brought before them several times without any compelling evidence, and were left with no option but to set such persons free to the dissatisfaction of the public that might not understand court procedure.
He said there must be a reasonable duration for accused persons or suspects to be dealt with so that contending parties would be satisfied. Nana Akuffo-Addo, therefore, mentioned that it was incumbent on judges, the police, lawyers and the general public to assist in finding solutions to the delay in the delivery of justice.
He later presented each regional office of the Attorney -General's Department with a full set of the Ghana Law Report and promised to provide more materials.
