Challenges of Police Prosecution in the Global South: Perspectives of Ghanaian Police Officers

Justice administration in most common-law countries, especially in the Global South, relies significantly on police-led prosecution of criminal cases. However, there are concerns that police-led prosecutions are characterised by challenges that can generate injustice. Therefore, this chapter uses interview data from police prosecutors and observations of court proceedings to examine police-led prosecution practices in Ghana, a country in the Global South. The results show that police prosecutors pay little attention to the vital role of pre-trial conferencing with complainants, witnesses and accused persons. Also, police prosecution in Ghana faces serious challenges, including lack of pre-trial procedural uniformity and clarity, inadequate training and professional development, and lawyers’ verbally abusing prosecutors. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implication of the results for police prosecution and justice administration.