Interior Minister, Mark Woyongo is optimistic Ghana will start implementing a non-custodial penal code by the end of 2015.
This comes on the back of his presentation of a report on non-custodial sentencing policy to the Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood.
[contextly_sidebar id=”z0TVW7B93Kl8BT1oam37iJt0VvP95DrB”]Non-custodial sentencing is a sentence given by a court of law which does not involve serving time in prison but it may include a fine, a restriction order, probation order or community service order.
In 2014, stakeholders in the criminal justice system collaborated with the Judicial Service, the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General and the Ghana Prisons Service to find the possible ways to implement the non-custodial penal code.
When it is approved, it will help with the decongesting of the various prisons nationwide; improve prison conditions to meet international standards and best practices.
Speaking in an interview with Citi News, the Interior Minister insisted that the application of alternative sentencing is long overdue and certain that it is the surest way to decongest the prisons.
According to him, relevant stakeholders are committed to ensuring that the decongestion of Ghana’s prisons takes place which is the main motivation behind the attempts to revise the laws to make provisions for non-custodial sentencing.
The sector Minister was hopeful that within the next few months, significant progress will be made.
The non-custodial penal code is currently being taken to the Attorney General after which it will be subjected to another quorum of experts who will discuss it and “then finally, we will pass it on to cabinet and we should be done with this by the end of the year.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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