CHRAJ:"Magistrates And Prosecutors Need Re-training"

The Commissioner of the CHRAJ, Justice Emile Short, has recommended a possible training forum for Magistrates as well as Prosecutors for them to discharge their duties honorably. Justice Short was speaking on Peace�s �Kokrokoo� this morning, following a visit he and other leading officials of CHRAJ, paid to the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, to inspect facilities of the male and female prisoners, and the plight of inmates on remand. It turned out that the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, built in 1960, has exceeded its ideal average capacity by 2,233, since the prison currently holds 2950 inmates instead of the original capacity of 717. Out of the latest inmates� population of 2950, 1165 are convicts, 1554 are on remand, 79 have been sentenced to life imprisonment and 82 are condemned prisoners. Justice Emile Short disclosed that a critical assessment of the prison and the lives of inmates indicated that the place was not good enough and reiterated the need to ensure both reformative and punitive system of justice prevails in our prisons. �Some of these suspects are there on offences too minor to merit such long years as remand suspects. We should be cognizant of the fact that our prisons are institutions for correction and not only for punishment,� so that hardened criminals are not churned out,� he cautioned. Justice Emile Short highlighted some possible measures to remedy the situation by calling on government to put up more buildings to reduce congestion in the prisons. He also advocated for the speedy trial of cases involving remand suspects.