The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has cautioned against the misuse and abuse of plea bargaining to shield perpetrators of financial and economic crimes, urging that the objective of plea bargaining should be protected.
Although he acknowledged the potential benefits of plea bargaining in dealing with financial and economic crime, he was concerned that using plea bargains merely to recover proceeds of crime without an admission of guilt from the accused undermines the fundamental purpose of criminal law.
Speaking on the complexities of plea bargaining as a tool to combat financial and economic crimes, at the 41st Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime at Jesus College, University of Cambridge on the theme “Suspect Assets,” he called for a “delicate balance” in the application of plea bargaining to avoid unintended consequences.
“The prosecutors will face a real risk of sacrificing their reputation and creating a false impression of having compromised their professional integrity and duty to prove the commission of an offence on the altar of making money for the State, or providing a shield from prosecution to accused persons,” the Attorney-General said.
Mr Dame argued that plea bargaining should primarily be based on a clear acknowledgement of responsibility, particularly in cases of financial and economic crimes that directly impact public resources.
“Plea bargaining should, as much as possible, be entered into on the basis of a clear acknowledgement of responsibility for the commission of a crime,” he stated.
However, he also recognised that there might be situations where a plea agreement or Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) could be justified without an admission of guilt.
Such circumstances, he noted, could arise when proving the crime is particularly challenging or when a trial is not in the public’s best interest due to more compelling considerations.
“It is only when the commission of an economic crime may be impossible to prove, or the necessity for a trial is outweighed by more compelling considerations, that a plea agreement or DPA, which is not founded on an admission of liability, may be entered into,” Mr Dame concluded.
His remarks highlights the delicate balance between pursuing justice and protecting the integrity of the legal system while combating economic crime on a global scale.
