What is the role of lawyers in criminal justice system? Mirror Lawyer, What role do lawyers play in the criminal justice system? Agyenim Boateng, Accra Dear Boateng, This question takes us to the provisions of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the supreme law of the land. The Constitution makes it clear that every citizen is entitled to a fair trial. This is enshrined in chapter five of the Constitution - that part that deals with fundamental human rights. When a person is arrested, he is said to be innocent until otherwise proved guilty. He is only a suspect and not an accused person. Many times, such suspects are easily made to feel that everyone is against them. This is why they need legal representation. The law provides that they may choose to remain silent until proved guilty by their accusers. Most people have their rights trampled upon either by their accusers or by the security officers. The guilt of the suspected person in criminal cases must be proved beyond all reasonable doubt. This is so because care is taken in criminal cases so that an innocent person is not convicted, hence the legal adage that it is better to free 100 guilty persons than to convict one innocent person. If one is not represented, he could easily be convicted and sentenced when that should not be the case. The law of natural justice demands that a person who is accused ought to be heard in his or her defence before judgement is pronounced. The Constitution also says a person shall be informed immediately he is arrested of his right to counsel or a lawyer. This is a mandatory provision which the police and other security agencies should comply with. Sometimes, it has been reported that some suspects are stripped naked and their heads shaved when taken to the police stations. This is unfair and inhuman. A suspect is not an accused person and even when the person is properly charged before a court of competent jurisdiction, he should not be subjected to inhuman treatment. Sometimes, because the complainant is an influential person or knows an influential person in society, the suspect is given some treatment so as to ‘put some fear into him’. The legal aid office was set up to provide lawyers to defend the poor and needy accused persons who cannot afford the services of a counsel. The 1992 Constitution acknowledges the enormous role played by lawyers defending and protecting the rights of citizens and ensuring that government administers the country in accordance with the laws of the land. Lawyers have a duty to do their best for their clients but ethically, it is wrong to coach the client to give false evidence. There are clients who easily get confused, especially in an environment like the court and definitely need to be helped to prepare for court. It is, however, not wrong for a client to be interviewed and helped to present his facts truthfully but better packaged. For example, if A attacks B and in an attempt for B to defend himself, B hits A and A dies, B will only see that A has died and thus say he has committed a crime. A lawyer would help him to bring out the issue of self-defence. Self-defence is a defence for a charge of murder. B may say because A died, he is guilty but the lawyer owes it as a duty to his client and to the profession to advise him on all possible defences. He is not advising his client just ‘to avoid controversy’. In a scenario like this, although the client may plead guilty, it is the duty of the lawyer to advise his client to plead not guilty. Lawyers like other professionals are governed by a code of ethics and etiquette. One of the rules under this code is that it is ethically wrong for the lawyer to coach the client to say things which are not facts of the case. Like every profession, there may be some who breach this code of ethics and do not play according to the rules. This does not mean that the bulk of, or all, "lawyers are liars" as many people usually say. The law of natural justice says that a person must be heard whatever his crime. Murderers, rapists and thieves also must be represented by counsels. The police and other security agencies are human beings and may mistakenly charge an innocent person with murder, rape or stealing. Does it mean that once you have been charged with the offence, you should not be defended by a lawyer? I think not. The law is also written in legal language that most people do not understand. There are people who may understand some of the language but a majority of the citizens are ignorant of their rights and what the law expects of them. For injustice not to be perpetrated, they need the services of professional lawyers to advise them. Lawyers also owe it as a duty to the public to see to it that justice prevails and criminals are brought to book so as to deter others from also getting into crime. This is even more needed now in our modern world when the crime rate is on the increase.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 21:24:02 +0000
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