Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency lost many of the first environmental cases that it took to court. One of the reasons was the difficulty in sustaining charges: they did not have the necessary evidence for an effective prosecution. Some of this was due to the lack of experience of Agency staff, who had strong academic qualifications but had not been trained in evidence gathering and investigation. Also, a lack of awareness by the judiciary of environmental laws made things more difficult.
To address these needs, the Agency is developing guidelines for investigation and prosecution of environmental violations. The guidelines are designed for use by Agency staff, and include guidance on what to look for, how to collect evidence, establishing chain of custody, presentation of evidence, and other aspects of investigation and prosecution. The Agency also has developed, in collaboration with the judiciary, a training syllabus for the judiciary on environmental laws and the need to comply with MEAs. These are incorporated into Ghana’s continuous Judicial Education Programme.
Teaching Environmental Law at the Police Academy in Ghana
In Ghana, the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded an agreement with the Police Administration to introduce environmental management and environmental law to police recruits and cadet officers. Specific topics include: environmental concepts, the structure and organization of Ghana’s EPA, environmental law (including the history of environmental law, legislative provisions, and regulations), and the role of compliance and enforcement in environmental management. The courses will be taught by EPA officers. The programme is still being developed, and it is expected that the programme soon will be extended to more senior officers.
For more information, see http://www.epaghana.org or contact epaed@epaghana.org