Common to all democratic states, every person is entitled to his right to personal liberty and freedom of movement. This right, just like any other human right, has limits. In article 14(1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the right to liberty can be curtailed when a person is suspected to have committed a criminal offence. A person may be arrested with or without a warrant. In Ghana, four categories of arrests without a warrant exist. They are arrests by officers of law enforcement agencies [i] , private citizens arrests [ii] , arrests by judges [iii] and arrests by senior prosecuting officers of the Legal Service [iv] . In all these cases, the entity authorised to detain an arrested suspect in lawful custody is a law enforcement agency. This short write-up will set out the processes after an arrested person is placed in custody. The constitution permits detention for a period of not more than 48 hours after the arrest. [v] At the end of that period, the detaining...
Educating members of the legal fraternity and the general public on criminal law and procedure in Ghana.