court is satisfied that the parent or guardian had contributed to the commission of the offence by neglecting to exercise due care
and attention.
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i ■ i.i. I. i.i \w ti'trti—i *!■■- n-**r*ft— **"*Y^-t n'-~ "T"
Section 345 of the Crtiminal Procedure Code 1960 (Act 30) vested juvenile courts with a non-peremptory power, under certain circumstances, to order the parent of a juvenile to pay a fine, damages or costs on behalf of the juvenile. The expression
"neglecti ng to exerci se due care of the juvenile" in Section 345 means fai1 ing to show due concern or interest for the juvenile.
And the words "no such order shall be made without giving the parent or guardian an opportunity of being heard" in Section 345
(4) means that he must be heard as to whether or not he had
contributed to the commission of the offence by the manner stated and whether or not he is capable of paying such a fine, damages or costs as awarded. Once the panel had formed the prima facie view that the parent or guardi an had contributed to the
commission of the offence, then the onus (not higher than that resting on a plaintiff in a civil case) would fal1 on the parent to satisfy the court that he had not done so.
This issue was fully discussed by Mr. Justice P.V. Osei Hwere while sitting in the High Court in Sunyani in the case of Donkor v. The Repulic (1977) 1 GLR 373. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are as follows: On 18th December 1975, the juvenile court committed the apellantvs son, aged sixteen years, to Borstal institute for three years and further ordered that the father of the juvenile offender should pay to the complainant an amount of Cl,496.10, being the total cost of the articles alleged to have been stolen by the juvenile offender, Takyi Donkor.
After the juvenile offender had pleaded guilty to all the
offences, the probation officer submitted a report on him and it was upon the recommendation of this report that the
above-mentioned order was made against the father. In the appeal lodged, the only ground was as follows:
"the courts order for payment by the apellant of the value of the properties stolen and unrecovered is erroneous for want of proof that the appellant, the parent of the
convicted juvenile therein, has conduced to the commission of the offence by neglecting to exercise due care of the
juvenile."
The court went on to state that in order to uphold the rules of natural justice, a juvenile court must adhere to the following rules of proceudre when dealing with a probation officers report before making an order:
- the juvenile should be told the substance of any part of the report bearing on his character or conduct which the court considered to be material to the manner in which he should be dealt with;
- the parent or guardian, if present, should be told the substance of any part of the report regarding the
character, the conduct or home surroundings of the
juvenile which the court considered to be material and;
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— if the parent or juvenile (having been told of the
substance of any such report) desired to produce evidence wi th reference thereto, the court. , if it thought the
evidence was material, should adjourn the proceedings for the production of further evidence and should, if
necessary, require the attendance at the adjourned hearing of the person who made the report.
The court should thereupon, unless it thought i t
undesiderable to do so, inform the parent that it proposed to deal with the juvenile alone, or with both the juvenile and his parent and allow the parent to make representation. Tt is always necessary for the court to consider whether or not an order made under Section 345 of Act 30 was properly made.
Disposition and Treatment of Juveniles
After investigations have been conducted, normally by the poli ce; and the offender has been brought before the juveni1e court, the bulk of the work is handled by the Department of
Social Welfare. In fact this Department i s involved from the day the juvenile is arraigned before the courts until the final order is made, be it custodial or supervisory. There are two main
forms of treatment and these are institutional and non-institutional.
The Institutional Treatment
The institutional treatment entails handling juveniles in institutions with the aim of bringing them under discipline and control. Two types of institutions are run by the Department of Social Welfare and these are Industrial Schools as well as Remand and Probation Homes. Age and sex are the major bases for
allocation of juveniles into these institutions. With regard to Industrial ShooIs, there are three types, namely, the Junior Boys Industrial School, the Senior Boys Industrial School and the
Girls Industrial School. Male juveniles under the age of
fourteen years are admitted to the Junior Boys Industrial School at Sekondi in the Western Region of Ghana. Male juveniles
between the ages of fourteen and seventeen are admitted in the Senior Boys Industrial Schools, of which there are two, one at Agona- Swedru in the Central Region and the other at Pong Tamale
in the Northern Region. All female juveniles are admitted at the Girls Industrial School at Osu in the Greater Accra Region
It has to be mentioned at this stage that there is a close relationship between the Industrial School and the Borstal
Institution for "young persons". However, the Borstal Institute is run as part of the Prison Service, under the management of the Prison Service and not of the Department of Social Welfare.
There is only one such institute in the country, situated at Maamobi (Roman Ridge) in Accra. Although it is meant for young persons (17 - 21 years) incorrigble juveniles (8 - 17 years), may be transferred from the Industrial School to the Borstal
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Tnstitute. Unfortunately, there is no similar instititon for female juvenile offenders. According to Prof. D.N.A. Nortey*
these institutions are run _7/ on the British pattern, the idea being to instill in the juveniles the habit of self-descipline so as to stimulate in them the desire to do what is right and good.
They are made to do work which is considered challenging and
interesting, thus giving them no time to idle, loaf or to indulge in mischief. These institutions are run on a house system. The inmates are divided into smaller and manageable units under a housemaster or a housemistress as the case may be. Each
housemaster has the responsiblity of acting as a parent, guide, counsellor and friend to each individual member of the house.
Each house has its own programme of activities which are designed to foster a close personal relationship and an interchange of ideas.
Group counselling is encouraged with the objective of giving the inmates insight into their problems and at the same time
helping them to acquire pro-social attitudes which would enable them to re-integrate into society. Emphasis is placed on both vocational training in specific trades and formal education. The trades such as shoe-making, brick laying and masonry,
blacksmithing, tailoring, carpentry, farming and auto-mechanics, are taught so that on leaving the institution, they can work on their own to earn a living. Formal education is encouraged
especially among the young ones so that they can enter secondary school upon leaving the institutions. In the senior schools, and the Borstal Institute, arrangements are made for suitable
juveniles to attend formal school daily outside the institution while the others receive vocational training.
Remand and Probation Homes
If, for security resons, a juvenile is remanded in custody while his case is awaiting final decision, he may be kept in a
remand and probation home, which is also used for probationers and supervisees, who require institutional care for short
periods, generally between four and twelve months. The period for which they have to stay in the home is determined by the courts. The purpose of this type of treatment is essentially re-socialisation through personal contact with a social worker and a change in the environment for some time, however short it may be.
Non-institutional treatment
The parole system is not unkown in the administration of justice in Ghana. It must be stated that the practice of granting amnesties and pardons is more prevalent than parole which seems to be 1imi ted to adult convicts and does not seem to extend to juvenile offenders.
!_/ * Formerly of the Department of Sociology, University of
Ghana in his paper "Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency in Ghana"
With regard to juveniles, the practice which obtains is the power to release on licence. Section 383 of the Criminal