Ghanaian juvenile justice system
The Ghanaian juvenile justice system encompasses the processes to handle minors who are in conflict with the law or who are in need of care and protection.
[1] The formal Ghanaian juvenile justice system was created under colonial rule and has evolved greatly since the early 1900s.
[2] Though the system was very small and only detected over 1,000 juveniles in conflict with the law by the 1950s, the institutions created by the colonists were used by independent Ghana.
[3] JJA attempted to reform the previous code by injecting principles of welfare, and international standards that uphold human rights and restorative justice.
[4] There was no formal system, in pre-colonial Ghana crime was defined as sins against ones community, tribe, or family.
[4] The village chief and his council of elders were the main social controllers of pre-colonial Ghana, ultimately determining how to handle issues of crime.
[5] The formal talkings of how to deal with juvenile delinquency under colonial ruled Ghana, emerged between 1906 and 1911.
[2] This was the first time juveniles who broke the Gold Coast law were separated from adults who committed crimes, in all of Ghana's history.
[1] Some viewed this to be a display of the strength of colonial discipline, arguably attempting to show the British's commitment to welfare and reform.
[2] These institutions were continued to use as a foundation for post-colonial independent Ghana's juvenile justice system.
[2] Hynd argued that under the colonial state Juveniles were seen as threats, they represented an unknown future, and a loss of control.
[2] She also stated it was geared towards reforming the juvenile delinquents into being economically productive and morally abiding citizens.
[2] The Criminal Procedure Code (Act 30) reformed the previous juvenile justice systems implemented by the British.
[1] Non-institutional ways included supervision by a probation officer, committal to the care of a relative or other fit person, payment of fines, damages or costs, or payment of fines by parents or guardians deemed to have contributed to the commission of a crime by the juvenile.
[1] Those in need of care and protection have not committed any crimes or broken any rules of the code rather were placed into the juvenile justice system out of pure necessity.
[1] The 1960 Criminal Code was adapted to conform to the current fourth republican constitution of Ghana established in 1992.
[1] The objective of the JJA was to protect children's rights and to meet international standards and norms.
The JJA aimed to reform the system to be more on the basis of welfare, international standards of human rights, and restorative justice.
[1] It was tasked with dealing with the rights of children, parental responsibilities, and minor criminal matters where the offence is not aggravated.
[9] The Child Panel includes the chairman of the social services sub-committee, a member of a women's organization, a representative of the traditional council, a district worker, a member of the justice and security sub-committee and other citizens in the community who are believed to be of high moral character.
[8] But in one study performed by Dr. Beatrice Adumea Kumi, probation officers state that they do not have enough resources to trace the parents or relatives of the juvenile.
[1] In a case study performed by Dr. Stephanie Hoffman and Corrine Baerg, many police officers did not even know this law.
[1] Another study performed by Dr. Robert K. Ameh, analyzed the status of the JJA and focused on the Juvenile Justice System in Accra.
[8] The study done in Accra noted that most juveniles did not have parents or guardians present or legal representation.
[8] In addition, though they identified a lack of organization in the court noting that dockets were often missing or wrong.
[3] The study also pointed out that though the JJA outlined non-institutional and institutional ways to deal with juveniles in conflict with the law, but most were put in detention.
[3][8] The UN rules, which Ghana signed into also states that untried detainees should be separated from convicted juveniles.
[9] For example, in a study done by Drs Robert Ame, Lilian Ayete-Nyampong and Dzifa Ami Gakpleazi, there was no knowledge that CPS existed in some areas such as the Western Region of Ghana.
[8] Another proposed reform to help fix recidivism is to have a child psychologist in juvenile justice institutions.
[1] One important thing to note when studying the juveniles in conflict with the law in Ghana is the information gap.
