KAIPTC braces for Criminal Justice training

The Kofi Annan International Peace-Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has organised a pilot training on Criminal Justice hoping to launch it as a fully-fledged programme when proven successful.

Representatives from the Judiciary, Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prison Service, Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, Legal Aid Scheme and Kueyia and Nsutsuphui Law Champers are participating in the five-day programme in Accra.

Air Commodore J.S.K. Dzamefe, Deputy Commandant of the KAIPTC, said at the opening session on Monday that with the rising crime rate worldwide, it was reassuring that specialised and highly trained professionals were available to protect and promote criminal justice.

He said the administration and promotion of criminal justice in any society was complex but the agencies that formed the criminal justice system were loosely linked.

“As a result, the aims and functions of these agencies are frequently in conflict, and so are the overall systems’ values of efficiency and due process, therefore, the means of seeking justice by the wider society is often ineffective and elusive,” he said.

He said it was important to understand the discretionary decision-making of professional groups, organisations, and individuals who were guided by law and rules.

Air Commodore Dzamefe said it was equally imperative to know that those professionals worked according to other criteria such as efficiency, work group norms, bureaucratic and professional interest as well economic constraints.

He said Ghana was blessed to have a judiciary with integrity, independence, professionalism and skill but taking such conditions for granted would be at the peril of the nation.

He said it was in addressing those concerns that the Centre, in collaboration with Kennesaw State University of USA, was putting up the pilot Criminal Justice Executive Training Course for key stakeholders in the criminal justice system.

Mr Dominic Ayine, Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, described the course as an important step in operationalising the function of the criminal justice system to deliver efficient, effective, accountable and fair justice process to the public.

He said there was an increased worldwide interest in ensuring that criminal justice systems complied with human right laws in order to ensure that the institutions respected the rights of the accused as well as protected the victim.

He said the administration of justice was a shared responsibility with several agencies playing critical roles, particularly the police professionalism in the prosecution of offences.