PLEASE SEND ME TO JAIL- ACCUSED PLEADS WITH COURT'' --MATTERSARISING

The above plea story and the sentencing outcome,carried by your social network on 15th July, 2012 in my professional assessment , is an absolute indictment of the systemic failure of Ghana's criminal justice system in meeting the UN Minimum Standards for the Treatment of Minor Offences and the systems blatant disregard , lack of the acknowledgement of the urgent need for re-thinking criminal justice practice and delivery in our dear country to meet lnternational practice and standards.

Undoubtedly, such ignorance and failure among other reasons account for the over population of Ghana's prison estates, for which the on going 'Justice for All Programme approach is not and cannot be a relevant and appropriate response to address the over population or overcrowding syndrome.

In refreshing the memory of the reader, a Mustapha Moro aged 29, who appeared at the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Circuit Court for stealing mobile phones at the Kumasi Central Market ( the quantity of the mobile phones was not mentioned ) was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour, by the sentencing judge William Boampong, following what was described as the defendant's plea to be sent to jail, for the fear of reprisals from his community.

Interestingly though ,two mobile phones and sim cards were reported to have been retrieved from the said defendant on his arrest.

My concern and worry bothers on as to whether Ghana's penal policy and for that matter, the criminal justice delivery system has any Sentencing Guidelines for the courts or not, and if not why not ?

If there is a Sentencing Guidelines, can anyone in authority or indeed the Chief Justice come out and educate Ghanaians what the guidelines clearly state or indicate about what is normally referred to as minor offences , for which l strongly believe the stealing of mobile phones is much more likely to apply.

There is no evidence from the news strory that the defendant is a dangerous and repeat or reculcitrant mobile phone offender or that significant force or weapons of any kind were used during the commission of the offence, which may be deemed as aggravating features of the offence.

We are informed of the mitigation feature of the offence to be that of addiction to stealing, yet l am doubtful if the sentencing judge took the professional step at enquiring or establishing the causes of the defendant's addiction as is the case in those jurisdictions where respect for the purposes of sentencing is a significant element of penal policy and justice delivery.

It would appear that in Ghana , the purposes of sentencing focuses only on a punitive, myopic and narrow mindedness of punishment, a punishment culture which fails to take into consideration the other aspects of sentencing as PUBLIC PROTECTION and the REHABILITATION OF THE OFFENDER.

In most jurisdictions, where sentencing guidelines are intergral features of criminal justice delivery, sentencing takes account of the nature of the offence, the circumstances, the financial loss to the victim and indeed the impact of the offence(s) on the victim and the community , the risk of re-offending and the impact of the sentence on the offender ( whether the sentence has the prospect of preventing re-offending)

l am worried , concerned and rightly so about this 14 years sentence imposed on the defendant, given there is no remote understanding of how such a sentence is aimed at public protection and the rehabilitation of the defendant.

Public protection,in my view may be short term, given the defendant has been removed from the community, the public may be protected albeit temporary , without the judge taking into account the impact of imprisonment on the defendant , in terms of his association with potential hardened and sophisticated offenders or criminals,if l may call them so, especially in a custodial regime that does not seem to undertake any sentence planning so as to identify, assess and address the criminogenic needs of offenders and promote their rehabilitation.

There may be a genuine fear and concern of reprisals from the community as said to have been expressed by the defendant.

But is there any guarantee that sentencing the defendant to what may be described as at his request, that the public may shy away or hold back from any revenge or reprisals after the defendant completes his prison terms ?

How such a long strectch of time in prison, for mobile phone theft can offer any protection to the public in the long term is yet to be tested, given that imprisonment for offenders of minor offences in my assessment ,do not in anyway deserve imprisonment, especially of the social contamination they may experience in prison.

Practice from other jurisdictions indicates custodial sentencing for minor offences/offenders is purely an outcome of professional ignorance at the relevance, importance and the appropriateness of NON-CUSTODIAL SENTENCING FRAMEWORK within our penal policy, that can empower magistrates and judges, indeed the courts to impose such sentences that meet and address the criminogenic needs offenders, promote victim empathy and awareness, offer real protection to the public and promote the rehabilitation of the offender, in as much as ensuring the re -settlement of offenders back into their communities.

Even in the cases of offenders who commit dangerous and serious offences, their rehabilitation must begin from the prison estates, within the framework of sentence planning that takes into account offence focused programmes with emphasis on cognitive behaviour modification therapeutic intervention strategies and counseling.

The current criminal justice delivery system , which has only custodial sentencing and financial penalty as court disposals as provided by the criminal procedure code, is not a pragmatic and commonsense approach to modern criminal justice delivery, particularly as it undermines the UN Minimum Standard for Non Custodial Measures and continues to open the ''flood gates'' to the prison over population or overcrowding phenomenon.

I dare challenge the chief justice to answer these simple questions?

1. What will be the financial cost of keeping Mustapha Moro in prison for this 14 years?

2.Will the financial cost involved be cheaper than the cost of the mobile phones stolen , which are reported to have been retrieved ?or for a non custodial sentence ?

3. To what extent will the traditional purposes of sentencing be achieved by this sentence ?

4 Why is Ghana non responsive to the UN Minimum Standard for Non Custodial Measures ?

5 What may be the difficulty of ammending the criminal procedure code and provide the relevant and appropriate legislative framework ?

for Non Custodial or Community sentencing as pertains in most jurisdictions ?

It is my professional assessment that sentencing in Ghana has become rather too crazy and ridiculous, calling for an urgent re-think of Ghana's Criminal Justice System and indeed a reform it's Penal Policy.

THE AUTHOR IS THE OPERATIONS DIRECTOR OF THE OFFENDER MANAGEMENT & REHABILITATION ORGANISATION ( OMRO) AND PENAL REFORM ADVOCATE
CAN BE CONTACTED via [email protected]