Sentencing, sentencing guidelines and other post-conviction orders
This domain tests whether you can build a lawful sentence from the statutory framework through to the ancillary orders.
The framework
The statutory maximum, and any mandatory minimum, sets the outer limit. Within it the court weighs the purposes of punishment: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, reformation and restitution. Relevant factors include gravity, aggravating and mitigating circumstances, prevalence, guilty plea, remorse, restitution, age, health, first-offender status and time spent on remand.
Procedure
Conviction, then allocutus, then plea in mitigation, then proof of previous convictions (strictly proved, not merely asserted), then sentence pronounced in open court with reasons. Where a mandatory minimum applies, as with certain robbery and narcotics offences, the court cannot go below it.
Orders available
Fines; imprisonment, concurrent or consecutive, subject to the totality principle; suspended sentences where statute allows; probation and community service; compensation to the victim; costs; forfeiture; binding over; disqualification; destruction of exhibits.
Guidelines
Ghanaian courts have issued guideline judgments and the Judicial Service has been developing sentencing guidelines. The practical method: identify the range, set a starting point, adjust for aggravating and mitigating factors, apply a discount for a guilty plea, then check totality.
Worked example
A 22-year-old first offender pleads guilty to stealing from an employer and repays part of the money before sentence. Identify the statutory maximum for stealing, select a starting point within the range, weigh the guilty plea, the repayment and the absence of previous convictions, consider a non-custodial or suspended option, and order compensation for the balance. The reasons should show that the plea and the repayment were considered, and that the sentence is proportionate to the loss.
Traps that cost marks
- Ignoring the statutory maximum or a mandatory minimum.
- Assuming a guilty plea guarantees a discount; it invites one but does not compel it.
- Ordering compensation without evidence of the loss.
- Passing consecutive sentences that offend totality.
- Failing to give credit for time spent on remand.