The Constitution Review Committee has recommended the abolition of the death penalty in Ghana.
“The Committee recommends abolishing the death penalty,” the Committee proposed in its report presented to President John Dramani Mahama on Monday, December 22.
The Committee proposed amending Articles 3, 13, 19, 72, and 94 to remove all references to capital punishment from the Constitution, aligning the country’s legal framework with current legislative practices, evolving public conscience, and contemporary human rights standards.
The Committee stated, “Parliament shall have no power to enact any law that prescribes, authorises or permits the imposition or execution of the death penalty for any offence under the laws of Ghana.”
It further clarified that, “Any sentence of death imposed prior to the coming into force of this provision shall, by operation of law, be deemed to be substituted with a sentence of life imprisonment or such other lawful custodial sentence as Parliament may prescribe.”
