Abstract
This study investigates the extent of prisoners’ legal entitlements as well as how prisoners acquire legal assistance within the prison setup. It is argued that inmates’ legal entitlements within the prison bureaucracy are devoid of the ideal of access to justice. The study used the mixed-method approach in data gathering. For the quantitative aspect, a sample of 300 inmates was used. Simple random and systematic sampling techniques were used to select the respondents. For the qualitative aspect, the following participants were purposively selected: ex-convicts, a paralegal prison officer, a court warrant officer, prison after-care officer, registrars, and relatives of inmates. The analysed data showed that most inmates did not receive family support during their trial before conviction. It was also found that inmates had no access to legal materials due to lack of law libraries, yet received some form of legal education from prison staff. Even though the court proceedings of inmates formed a critical part of their appeal process, a little above half of the inmate population had access to these documents. With the advancement in Information and Communication Technology, it is recommended that all courts should be digitized with relevant logistics and improved infrastructure to smoothen access to case files.
Highlights
Access to justice and good governance are the pillars of every democratic society
The survey data show that 68.6% of inmates did not receive any family support between the time of arrest and conviction, 18.7% of inmates said their families hired the services of lawyers for them, whilst 18.7% of inmates said their families were present in court to encourage and witness the trial processes
This study looked into the extent of inmates' legal entitlements/rights as well as how they obtained legal assistance while incarcerated
Summary
Access to justice and good governance are the pillars of every democratic society. Broadly, the term access to justice, reflecting the tenets of social justice, has been explained to mean a situation where all people, especially the vulnerable group have access to state-sponsored systems of education, legal and welfare services, including health care (Chappelow, 2019; Atuguba, Agyebeng, & Dedey, 2006). Ghana has received its share of such interventions (see Atuguba et al, 2006; Crook, 2004; Adu-Gyamfi, 2014; Nolan-Haley, 2015; Morhe, 2010; Atua, 2013; Frimpong, 2017; Riggs, 2012) These studies have contributed significantly to the literature on access to justice in various ways. Many inmates do not have access to their court proceedings – a legal requirement for appeal, are unable to access the court They are, in effect, serving sentences deemed unfair which is an affront to justice, and an abuse of their fundamental human rights. Meeting the justice and legal needs of prisoners is a way of addressing everyday legal problems (OECD, 2016)
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