AG's Office To Hire Private Prosecutors

The Attorney General’s department is to engage private prosecutors to expedite prosecution of criminals. This has become necessary because the department is currently understaffed and this has led to long trials of cases. The move is designed to revolutionalise the system of prosecution in Ghana in line with the new system of fast-tracking the judicial process.

The department is currently preparing for the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Code 1, to allow it to temporarily appoint prosecutors in the private practice to assist the office. The amendment will then be presented to Parliament in early February for approval.

The Attorney General’s Department is currently working with only 90 out of the needed 200 lawyers. The more disturbing aspect of the whole issue is that there are only two senior and experienced prosecutors in the AG’s office, who handle cases, which end up in the higher courts.

Bringing in more experienced senior lawyers from private practice will therefore boost the system and beef up the capacity of the AG’s department to enable the numerous criminal, civil and other cases before the courts to be settled with dispatch.