Cutting EDGE - LLB Holders as Police Prosecutors PDF

Preview

Summary

LLB Holders to be considered as Police Prosecutors...

Description

THE CUTTING EDGE APPROACH TOWARDS CRIMINAL PROSECUTION The writer of this article seek to influence its readers how the role Police prosecutors can be enhanced by considering recruiting Bachelor of Law Students (Llb Holders) into the police service for the task of Prosecuting criminals in Ghana. The current number of Law Students who sat for the just ended August 24th entrance stands at 28001 Secondly the writer will also focus Private Lawyers volunteering themselves or handle criminal prosecution on behalf of the state with the view of fading out the Police prosecutors on grounds which this article will unfold. This is akin to the prosecution of contempt cases in Ghana. The article will further propose contract prosecution by private lawyers akin to the structures set up under the Legal Aid Scheme. Police Prosecutors work under the supervision of a Regional Head of Legal and Prosecutions Unit. The Head of the Unit has the rank of Assistant Superintendent to Assistant Commissioner depending on the region and typically, the Head is a qualified lawyer and therefore competent as a JUPOL to scrutinise the legal, procedural and evidential aspects of police case dockets. However, the role and authority of a JUPOL is not defined in the Service Instructions and JUPOLs normally do not receive a case docket until after a decision to charge an accused person to court has been made by the District Commander – who is often unqualified in law. Across Ghana criminal cases classified as misdemeanors such as theft and assaults or seconddegree felonies such as major thefts, robbery and defilement and therefore handled by Police Prosecutors under the supervision of JUPOLs in the District Court or Circuit Court. State Attorneys will always deal with first-degree felonies such as murder, rape or high profile serious crimes. A functional Analysis in 2017 by ARAP of complaints made against the police indicated that 39% of all complaints made against the police relate to apparent failures in the performance of CID officers – specifically the non professional handling of investigations and undue delay in investigations. These cases reveal frequently recurring behaviour: CID officers failing to properly investigate the cases allocated to them; failing to secure witness evidence; failing to respond to victim requests for information; providing excuses or misinformation about the delay in progress; etc. The volume of cases and the frequent patterns of performance failure suggest a broader problem of supervisory shortfalls in meeting minimum standards in CID. Significantly, an ARAP interview with a Senior State Attorney revealed the top two persistent shortcomings suffered by State attorneys in the quality and conduct of police investigations were: 1) unprofessional handling of cases and 2) undue delay in investigations. The supervision of investigations is provided by Crime Officers mainly in the ranks of Inspector and Chief Inspector and, at present, there is no provision of training in supervisory skills for officers who are promoted to these ranks. Evidence accrued from the ARAP PIPs functional analysis indicate a range of competencies (areas of knowledge and skills) that are required of first-line supervisors and which GPS should be developing through formal training. With regard 1 Ghana School of Law

to investigations, these competencies include: effective case docket management; professional standards and police ethics, managing complaints from the public, local resolution of complaints and the use of progressive discipline. It is noted that none of the front-line supervisors responsible for investigators spoken to during the recent ARAP assessment have undergone the Front-Line Supervisors course and renewed vigour is required at the regional level to ensure all front-line supervisors attend the course. Police Service Instructions 197 (Prosecution of Cases) refers to the lead role of District Commanders in deciding whether a case is charged to court and then presented to the JUPOL in charge of police prosecutions. In most cases the District Commander may not be a trained lawyer and the JUPOL, who in most cases is a trained lawyer, has no opportunity to comment on the quality of case dockets and utilise the skills of Police Prosecutors to guide police investigations prior to charge. There is widespread concern in the courts as to the lack of quality of investigations and dockets. The IGP may wish to consider amending Service Instruction Directive 197 to include JUPOLs and Police Prosecutors alongside District Commanders in guiding and directing investigations and deciding whether to charge accused persons to court. In 2016, the US Embassy (USAID) funded a Ghanaian company, ‘Law and Development Associates’ (LADA) to design and deliver five-week training for Police Prosecutors and LADA accordingly trained 300 Police Prosecutors in 2016. From discussions across the country, it would appear that many Police Prosecutors, possibly about 50%, 3 have since been re-assigned to other GPS duties. This brings into question the current transfer policy of the GPS and longterm value and sustainability of Police Prosecutor training by contracted companies. The Ghana School of Law, a statutory body, has no role to play in the long-term and sustained training of Police. Should a decision be made to initiate a Police Prosecutors course at the School, it would be taught by State Attorneys, JUPOLs and Court of Appeal Judges. Being taught by those who were in court routinely would provide Police Prosecutors with the much needed confidence they required with relevant up to date insight and knowledge. That will be waste of state resources when we have numerous law students. Police Service Regulations (C.I 76 Section 73) gives authority to the police management board to award funding for part-time study leave with pay subject to entering into a bond linked to minimum post tenure. To prevent the depletion of Police Prosecutors in the courts why cant attention be given to Llb holders to carry out excellent job on behalf of the nation. There is a huge number of talented law graduates across the country eager to find work and it may be beneficial for the GPS to launch a special public recruitment campaign to attract the next generation of Police Prosecutors. Candidates would be required to hold law degrees and complete basic police training followed by Police Prosecutor training and a probationary period before embarking on a Police Prosecutor career. Many Police Prosecutors are untrained, and the Attorney General and the Police Service should consider that all current and newly graduated Llb holders as Police Prosecutors to receive mandatory basic training as a pre-requisite to handling criminal prosecutions in court. Section 132 restricts the right of Police Prosecutors to respond to legal argument by a Defence attorney and make closing remarks unless they are a qualified lawyer with more than three years’ experience. The current position that allows a Defence Attorney of two years call

to raise legal arguments but not a Police Prosecutor of equal call is untenable and a breach of the principle of equality of arms. In general, the efficacy of confession statements obtained by police officers is poorly regarded by the Courts and many criminal cases fail due to procedural irregularities or lack of confidence in the integrity of the interviewing officer. The issue is further compounded by the use of ‘independent witnesses’ who validate the confession or statement of the accused at the time of interview. In the longer term, the Attorney General should consider to phase out the practice of police officers prosecuting criminal cases. It is fully understood that an initiative of this scale and depth would require significant political buy-in, planning, legislation, funding and recruitment and training of llb holders, but the benefits of an independent prosecution system for people of Ghana is also far-reaching in terms of maintaining confidence in the justice system. Reference 1. Report dated 24.01.2018 on the work of Police Prosecutors by Accountability, rule of law and Anti-Corruption Programme...