A total of 300 police prosecutors across the country have been trained over a one year project aimed at building the capacity of prosecutors which is expected to increase their expectise in the criminal justice system in the country.

The participants were drawn from the 11 police administrative regions across the country.

The training was organised by the Law and Development Associations (LADA) Institute, with funding support from the United States through the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, to improve the competence and confidence ofg police prosecutors.

It is the final part of a $1-million project to train 300 Ghanaian police prosecutors over a year. The project is also expected to increase the confidence of the public in the criminal justice system.

At the closing ceremony last Thursday, some of the participants who spoke on behalf of the regions they represented commended the organisers and the Police Administration for the programme.

Chief Inspector Victor Dosoo of the Accra Regional Police Command described the programme as an eye opener which would help prosecutors not to lose sight of evidence which would aid them in the prosecution of cases.

A participant from the Upper East Region, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Isaac Kojo Forson, said the practical aspect of the training, which included exercises such as mock prosecution and court visits, made it easy for the prosecutors to grasp some concepts related to the work of police prosecution.

He said the programme enabled the participants to better appreciate the impact of prolonged detention of suspects or accused persons which, among others, was an indictment on suspects’ human rights.

Impact
The Director of the Legal and Prosecution Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Benjamin Osei Addae, urged the participants to put the knowledge gained from the training to good use.

The Chief Director of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General’s Department, Mr Suleiman Ahmed, who was the guest speaker, said currently there were 34 state criminal prosecutors in the Greater Accra Region and 44 in the other regions who, unlike their colleagues in Accra, handled both criminal and civil cases, hence the need to train more police prosecutors to ensure efficiency in the justice delivery system.

He urged the prosecutors to endeavour to detach their emotions from cases they handled and abide by the law in the prosecution of cases.

In his remarks, the Managing Director of the LADA Institute, Mr Mark Ofori-Amanfo, said due to the success chalked up, the institute had received close to $1.5 million to expand the project for another one year.

Under the second phase, he said, 150 more police prosecutors would be trained from January 2017, after which the institute would undertake a monitoring exercise to find out how the training was impacting their work.

He hinted that there were plans to expand the programme and incorporate it into the Ghana Police College programme.

The last batch of prosecutors drawn from the Ghana Police Service ended a four-week training, aimed at sharpening their skills in the dispensation of

Topics discussed at the training included, criminal prosecution, law of evidence, criminal trial and advocacy, constitution and constitutional principles on crime and punishment and the Ghana Legal system.

The representative of the US Embassy, Ms. Prislla Sylva, urged the prosecutors to liase with their colleagues to ensure effective justice delivery.

She urged them to continue improving themselves in order to be abreast of procedures and regulations in the country’s judicial system.

The Deputy Director, Legal ad Prosecution of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Benjamin Osei Addae, urged the participants to be agents of change and not be afraid of defence counsels.

-modernghana.com