Seth Awuku, a candidate in legislative drafting at Athabasca University in Canada, has compared Ghana's criminal penalties to those in the Old Testament.
According to him, the punishments are'vengeful' and'retributive,' taking the form of 'an eye for an eye' and 'a tooth for a tooth,' as defined under section 294 of the criminal process law.
As a result, in an interview with Samson Lardy Anyenini on The Law on Sunday, he pushed for a revision of criminal penalties from their existing form to a utilitarian one.
"If you look at the text there, you can see that the philosophy, the philosophical underpinning of such an institution is there," he remarked, referring to section 294 of Ghana's criminal process code.
That is, it is spiteful; it is akin to the Old Testament's 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' approach to dealing with wrongdoing or crime. Even the Bible has made the transition from the Old to the New Testament. And it is for this reason that we must engage in what is known as the "utilitarian theory of punishment philosophy."
Mr. Awuku made these statements while discussing the need of Ghana considering community sentencing as a sort of alternative punishment for criminals.
In this regard, he emphasized the importance of community punishment and encouraged proposals for it to be viewed as a more feasible alternative for rehabilitating lawbreakers.
He argued that community sentencing, which is ingrained in utilitarianism, will serve the interests of society more than the correctional system of dealing with offenders, referring to utilitarians.
This is because utilitarianism, unlike other philosophical foundations, concentrates on the 'greater good.'
"Our political players' intellectual foundations are still based on the Old Testament manner of doing things. This is a retributive, not a utilitarian, kind of punishment.
And we will remain in the old school until our political leaders and actors truly get this utilitarian approach to developing a healthy society in reforming our citizens, especially when they transgress in society," he warned.
He went on to argue, using the instance of Canada, that the penalty meted out to criminals must be equal to the seriousness of the crimes they commit, arguing in favor of community sentencing.
In recent years, community sentencing has been on the minds of policymakers, with many asking for it to be completely integrated into Ghana's legal system.
According to the proponents, community sentencing will aid in the successful prosecution of less serious offenses and violations affecting kids. Community sentencing proponents also claim that because it is less antagonistic, it will aid in the rehabilitation of criminals.
Seth Awuku, in a similar move, has asked the police to stop revealing suspects' identities and other important facts to the public.