Supreme Court judge, Justice Clemence Honyenugah, has disclosed that a total of 839 remand prisoners have been discharged under the “Justice For All Programme”, JFAP across the country’s prisons as of January 2020.
Additionally, 1,596 out of the total of 4,512 inmates who appeared before the court under the JFAP have been granted bail while 180 have been convicted, and 28 of the inmates, referred to psychiatric hospitals.
According to Justice Honyenuga, who has been presiding over the Justice for All Court proceedings, this had led to a reduction in the prison population from 33 percent in 2007 to 13 percent currently.
He was speaking at the first ever court sitting under the “Justice For All Programme” which was held virtually for inmates of the Akuse Prison in the Greater Accra Region.
At the proceedings of the virtual court presided over by Justice Honyenuga, five out of nine inmates at the Akuse Prison who appeared before the virtual court, were granted bail.
One bail application was refused, another declined on grounds of jurisdiction and two other cases adjourned indefinitely due to various reasons.
Justice Honyenuga admonished investigators in criminal cases to “be proactive in their work and not leave the vulnerable remand inmate to languish in jail for months and years under the cover of COVID-19”.
The Programme, previously done in prisons through makeshift courts was held virtually because of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the transportation of prison inmates to courts.
The objective of the JFAP is to bring justice to remand prisoners some of whom had languished in jail without their cases being heard.
