Protect the underprivileged in society – Godfred Dame charges Public Defenders at LAC
Public Defenders are state attorneys who are appointed to defend accused persons who cannot afford to hire the services of a lawyer
The Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has charged lawyers at the Public Defenders’ Division (PDD) of the Legal Aid Commission (LAC) to use their division to protect the underprivileged in the Ghanaian society.
Public Defenders are essentially, state attorneys who are appointed to defend accused persons who are poor and cannot afford to hire the services of a lawyer of their choice.
In essence, the Public Defender represents in court, the indigent criminal offenders, that is, the poor and vulnerable, women, juveniles, remand prisons and person with disability who come into conflict with the law.
Call to protect
The AG made the call when he addressed attendees of the launch event of the Public Defenders Division of Ghana Legal Aid Commission today 10 May 2023 at the Lancaster hotel in Accra. The launch of the division was done in collaboration with the United States Embassy in Ghana.
“I will admonish the Public Defenders Division not to consider itself as an extension of the government that hires them and only work to support its interests.
“This is not the intent of public defence. Public Defenders are hired to defend the underprivileged members of the Ghanaian public, not their state employers” Godfred Dame said.
“Without Public Defenders, all citizens would not be able to access legal representation, and a vital aspiration of the Constitution of the land would be unfulfilled.
“Through your services, the government meets the requirements of the country’s primary laws. It is thus imperative that you discharge your duties professionally and ethically, with your duty to the poor as your watchword,” the AG added.
LAC building
The Attorney General in his remarks observed that “whilst touting the lofty ends to be achieved by the Division, it will be neglectful on [his] part to lose cognisance of the deplorable conditions in which the entire Legal Aid Commission operate.
“The Legal Aid Commission is dogged by dreadful infrastructural and logistical hardships. The temporary premises from which it operates is in a complete state of dilapidation.
“The premises have indeed become woefully too small to accommodate the various offices and divisions of the Commission required by law to be set up, like the Public Defenders Division. Meetings with clients of the Commission, I am aware, are held under tents erected outside and on the corridors of the office” the Attorney General said.
To this end, Godfred Yeboah Dame took the opportunity to renew his pledge to the Legal Aid Commission, “that after the Law House (the new office for Ministry of Justice), the construction of which is set to be completed this year, with the help of the Almighty, [he] will ensure that land is acquired for the construction of a permanent office for the Legal Aid Commission”.
Legal Aid Fund
The Attorney General launched the Legal Aid Fund in accordance with section 31 of Act 977 sometime last year. The finance ministry at the time pledged on behalf of government to contribute at least 1 million cedis annual to support the fund.
In his speech, the AG noted that he is “happy to state that the Ministry of Finance has redeemed its pledge of contributing One Million Ghana Cedis seed money to the Fund”.
“I will liaise with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that every year, the government contributes at least One Million Cedis, to the Fund. I will urge members of the public to contribute generously to the Legal Aid Fund, for it is good that we make provision for the poor,” Dame said.
“I will also respectfully call on the Board of the Commission to come up with innovative means of ensuring that sufficient contributions, donations and grants are made to the Fund, for a smooth discharge of the noble objects of the Commission,” he added.
Valuable lessons
Rachel Rossi, the Director, Office for Access to Justice, United States Department of Justice, in her remarks, acknowledged that public defenders in the United States just like any other country in the world have challenges.
However, she noted that there are lessons she can share about how the United States is addressing public defence challenges. The first lesson she said “is the importance of using government and leadership platforms to highlight and visibly support the vital role of public defenders in defending human rights, supporting the rule of law and ensuring the integrity of justice systems”.
The second lesson according to Ms Rossi, “is to elevate the voices of public defenders as part of the effort to develop longer term and system wide reforms to make our societies more just and fairer, and to create opportunities for information-sharing and collaboration to life up best practices”.
The third and final lesson, the Director, Office for Access to Justice, United States Department of Justice, said is to employ a whole of government and a people-centered approach to advancing access to justice.
“we’ve learned that access to justice cannot be accomplished by the courts or the justice system alone.
“Other sectors of society, including leaders in health, food security, housing and more, hold the expertise required to meet the underlying needs and resource gaps that can contribute to access to justice needs in the in the criminal legal system.
“By aligning goals, budgets, and resources, there can be important dividends and impactful holistic results,” Ms Rachel Rossi stated.
High optimism
To demonstrate her optimism about Ghana’s quest to build a strong public defence division under the Legal Aid Commission, Ms Rossi relied on a quote from US civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr when he visited Ghana.
She stated: “As I reflect on a great U.S. leader, Martin Luther King, and his visit to Ghana for its independence ceremony in 1957, I am reminded that our countries share similar historical injustices.
“Dr. King identified with Ghana’s independence struggle, and recognized a strong link between ending colonialism in Africa and the fight against racism in the United States.
“Upon returning from Ghana, King delivered a sermon entitled “The Birth of a New Nation,” where he stated: The road to freedom is difficult, but finally, Ghana tells us that the forces of the universe are on the side of justice.
“That’s what it tells us, now. You can interpret Ghana any kind of way you want to, but Ghana tells me that the forces of the universe are on the side of justice” Ms Rachel Rossi said.
Background
The pillars of free legal services to the poor and vulnerable or indigent Ghanaians and non-Ghanaian residents are laid in article 294 of the 1992 Constitution.
Even though legal aid had been in existence since 1987 by reason of Legal Aid Scheme Law, 1987 (PNDCL 184) it was the clause 2 and3 of article 294 of the Constitution which taking into account the centrality of legal aid to the provision of access to justice for all persons in Ghana, that Parliament enacted the Legal Aid Scheme Act, 1997 (Act 542).
This Act was passed to ensure the effective operation of the scheme in consonance with the Constitution. In 2018, in order to fully equip the scheme as the leading public institution delivering professional and quality legal services to the poor in society, a new Legal Aid Commission Act of 2018 (Act 977) was passed and assented to by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on 13 September 2018.
The new act establishes the Legal Aid as a Commission and creates Public Defenders Division as one of the three (3) major divisions of the Commission. The others are the Citizens Advisory Division and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Division (ADR).
The PDD
The following are the functions of the Public Defenders’ Division: First, to assist persons in need of legal assistance for the realization of the right of equality before the law and for fair trial.
Second, to act as Public Defender for the realization of article 14 (Protection of personal liberty), article 17 (Equality and Freedom from discrimination) and article 19 (Fair trial) under 1992 constitution.
Third, to ensure that a person who is arrested, restricted, detained or accused of an offence is afforded the appropriate legal assistance.
Provide legal aid to persons in police and prison custody, provide legal aid for juveniles and defend a person who is arrested, restricted, detained or accused of an offence, are the fourth, fifth and sixth functions of the division.
Lastly, defend a person accused of a crime who is indicted for the offence the punishment for which is imprisonment for life or who cannot afford the services of a lawyer.
Wilberforce Asare
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