Speakers at a roundtable discussion on sentencing in the country’s  Criminal Justice System have called on judges to prioritise  the option of non-custodial sentencing that exist under the 1992 Constitution rather than giving custodial sentences to convicts especially, petty offenders.

They have also called on government to expedite action to pass the Community Service Bill and come up with a comprehensive law on non-custodial sentencing.

The speakers, who are of the view that options of non-custodial sentences that are in the Constitution are not given prominence by judges, argued that the move, would decongest the prisons, help in the proper reintegration of offenders into the society, rehabilitation and bring meaning to livelihoods.

The speakers were  an officer from the Legal Unit of the Ghana Prisons Service,  ASP Stephen Okai Aboagye, an Assistant Director at the Ministry for the Interior, Ms Gifty Quaye, a representative from the Attorney General’s Department, Mrs Ameley Dankwa Agyeman and the Executive Director of POS Foundation, Mr Jonathan Osei Owusu.

Read the full article here: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/prioritise-non-custodial-sentencing.html