Equity Edge Legal, a legal advocacy group made up of law students from the University of Professional Studies,UPSA, Accra, is calling on Parliament to urgently reintroduce and pass the Community Service Bill to provide alternative sentencing for minor offences.
The private member’s bill seeked to amend the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960, by introducing community service as an alternative punishment for misdemeanours.
Although the bill was laid before the 9th Parliament of the Fourth Republic, it could not be passed before Parliament rose.
John Baptist Ayedze Esq., Law Lecturer, UPSA / Lead, Equity Edge Legal called on parliament to give priority to the bill when relayed and pass it.
” I fully support that call for the Community Service bill to be passed as soon as possible. Some of us, we’ve gone through prisons and if you’ve gone through prisons and look at their prison conditions, you see that there’s need. And for some of them, they come here just based on petty offences, you know, and by the time they go back, now they do more, you know, bigger offences because of the interaction, they come and all those, and it doesn’t help”
He added that “Every developed country has had that kind of system and it helps them, it helps the society and it helps everyone.
So I fully, you know, agree with that and I pray that when Parliament resumes, it’s passed as early as possible and we see the enforcement to decongest the prison system and then serve us, you know, benefit to all of us”.
John Baptist Ayedze Esq made the call when Equity Edge Legal made up of law students from University of Professional Studies,Accra (UPSA) in collaboration with DOYA Foundation paid court fines to secure the release of three young inmates.
Two of the inmates had been jailed for stealing cocoa beans, while the other jailed for breaking into dormitory with his friends to steal seven students’ trunks.
They were serving 18 -month jailed term each which started late last year.
Ezekiel Korletey, Public Relations Officer, Koforidua Prisons commend Equity Edge Legal for the timely intervention.
He encouraged other organisations to come to the aid of such minor offenders languishing in jail due to their inability to pay their fines
The PRO appealed for support to renovate the roof of the prison facility which currently leaks profusely whenever it rains.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
