Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine Demands Duty-Lawyers at Ghana Police Stations to Protect Suspects.

In a decisive push to reform Ghana’s criminal justice system, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic A. Ayine, has called for the immediate deployment of lawyers to police stations and courts nationwide. This bold proposal aims to institutionalize a state-backed duty-lawyer scheme, specifically designed to protect suspects' fundamental human rights and ensure early access to legal representation during critical stages of criminal proceedings. The Minister emphasized that early intervention is vital to safeguard individuals when they are most vulnerable to losing their liberty without adequate legal guidance.

The Attorney General made these remarks in a speech read on his behalf on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at the Law Court Complex in Accra, marking the official launch of the Legal Aid Commission’s 2026 Legal Aid Week. Held under the theme “Justice at Your Doorstep,” the annual event serves as a platform to review national legal assistance frameworks. Dr. Ayine noted that the most decisive moments in any criminal case transpire within the walls of local police stations, asserting that the proposed duty-lawyer framework will give practical, functional effect to Article 14(2) of the 1992 Constitution.

To prevent the systemic issue of prolonged detention without trial, the Attorney General urged the Legal Aid Commission to conduct regular, rigorous reviews of all cases involving individuals held in custody. He maintained that a citizen's access to fair treatment under the law must never be restricted by financial distress or geographical isolation. To resolve these imbalances, Dr. Ayine directed the Commission to aggressively expand its presence beyond regional capitals by establishing functional district offices and launching regular mobile legal clinics.

According to the proposed strategy, these mobile legal clinics will operate on fixed days within communal hubs, including local marketplaces, community centers, and traditional council halls. This decentralization strategy is specifically engineered to make initial legal counsel accessible to poor, unlettered, and underserved populations. Reflecting on his extensive career in legal practice, Dr. Ayine lamented that poverty frequently silences individuals with legitimate claims, stating bluntly that "a right that cannot be reached is a right denied."

To bolster the human resource capacity required for this nationwide rollout, the Ministry of Justice plans to engage the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) to encourage private practitioners to take up more pro bono cases. Furthermore, Dr. Ayine called upon domestic law faculties and the Ghana School of Law to establish supervised legal clinics. These academic institutions are expected to lead the training of paralegals and community legal volunteers capable of dispensing basic, reliable legal advice across rural communities.

Recognizing the bottlenecks within the formal court system, the Attorney General advocated for the strengthening of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms. He noted that close collaboration with traditional authorities and community mediators could resolve prevailing land, family, tenancy, and debt disputes much faster. By diverting minor civil and financial conflicts away from full trials, the state can drastically cut down on long delays and high legal costs for ordinary Ghanaians.

The administration also plans to leverage digital technology to modernize legal aid delivery across all 16 regions. Dr. Ayine proposed the launch of a toll-free legal aid hotline, simplified SMS and WhatsApp intake systems, and the distribution of vital legal information in local languages. To prevent legally aided clients from slipping through institutional cracks, he recommended the creation of a shared case-management system linking the Legal Aid Commission, the judiciary, and the Office of the Attorney General.

Concluding his address, Dr. Ayine reminded state prosecutors of their constitutional responsibility to respect and support every accused person's right to representation. He stressed that effective legal aid delivery requires predictable, dedicated funding lines within the national budget, supplemented by international development partners. Urging the Commission to publish annual performance reports to maintain transparency, the Attorney General declared that the true measure of a justice system is how it treats the poor, the unlettered, and the forgotten.