Supreme Court nominee tasks Parliament to Consider review of death Penalty
A Nominee to the Supreme Court , Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu, has tasked Parliament to consider the suitability and possible review of Ghana’s death penalty legislations.
Appearing before the Appointments Committee on Tuesday, October 18 2022, Justice Ackah-Yensu in responding to a question by the member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu in respect of her views on death penalty sentencing in Ghana said “As a Christian, I am not for life for life. I am also aware of Ghana’s status as an abolitionist in practice. It is for this honourable House to look at the existing law and make a determination taking all these factors we have talked about and come to a determination whether or not it should stay in our statute books.”
The Criminal and Other Offences (Amendment) Act 1960 Act 29 and Armed Forces (Amendment) Act 1962 Act 105, commonly referred to as the Death Penalty Bills introduced by Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, have been gazetted, undergone first reading and referred to the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee.
If passed, Ghana would achieve at least 95 percent abolishing of the death penalty and become the 26th African country to do so following neighbours including Sierra Leone, Central Africa Republic, Guinea, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Togo and Chad, with Equatorial Guinea being the 25th African country to do so.
The Bills seek to amend sections 46, 49, 49a, 180, 194 and 317a of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and sections 14,15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 40, 78, and 79 of the Armed Forces Act 1962, (Act 105) to give effect to the recommendations of the 2010 Constitutional Review Commission and Government White Paper on abolition of Death Penalty.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in July 2022 nominated four persons for elevation onto the Supreme Court Bench. The nominees from the Court of Appeal are Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu, Justice George Kingsley Koomson, and Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu, with Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, the only nominee from the High Court. Their appointments are subject to vetting and subsequent approval or rejection by Parliament. The President made these nominations to fill up expected vacancies at the apex court.
Source: expressnewsghana.com
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