Mediation in Ghanaas Criminal Justice System: A Proposal for an Extension to Cover Severe Offences

Abstract

Unlike a civil wrong, a crime upon its commission is regarded as an offence against the State and not the human victim(s) involved. This has made the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms in the resolution of a crime rather challenging. Regardless of this, the Ghanaian law provides for the use of mediation in resolving non-severe offences that do not amount to felony and are not aggravated in nature. Notwithstanding the gains made by Ghana in legislating criminal mediation in non-severe offences, an evaluation of its laws disclose that this provision does not extend to severe criminal cases. This paper seeks to fill this lacunae and focuses on the need to extend mediation to resolve severe offences. Drawing lessons from how severe offences have been successfully mediated in other jurisdictions and the benefits of restorative justice , it concludes on how Ghana can learn from same , and by extension, mold its own thereof having regard to its unique legal and socio-cultural setting.