Government accepts abolition of death penalty, proposes life imprisonment for capital offences

Speaking at a press briefing on government’s position on the final recommendations of the Constitutional Review Committee, the Attorney-General said the proposed amendment would affect the relevant provisions of Article 13 of the 1992 Constitution, which currently provides for the death penalty in certain circumstances.

Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dominic Ayine, has announced that the government has accepted a recommendation to abolish the death penalty in Ghana, paving the way for persons convicted of offences that previously attracted capital punishment to serve life imprisonment instead."The death penalty is inconsistent with the constitutional right to life and with Ghana’s international human rights obligations under the United Nations conventions to which we are parties," he said.