LRC News & Events

05

Mar

Penn Law Pan-Africa Service Project

As part of their School Service Project, 8 students from the University of Pennsylvania Law School USA (Penn Law), led by Coretta Owusu will be working with the LRC in developing a training manual which will comprise of basic legal terms/processes in addition to alternative dispute resolution techniques.

Penn Law aims to promote an ethic of service in all students while encouraging them to develop professional skills and enhance their legal education. Penn Law students perform pro bono services for hundreds of nonprofits, government and legal services agencies, and law firms locally, nationally, and globally.

The manual produced will be used to train 20 women from the Nima/Mamobi communities in Accra Ghana on 8th March 2013. At the end of the training these women should be able to give basic support to women in the community.

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25

Feb

LRC CHAIRS THE RE-LAUNCH OF PROJECT CITIZEN AND INAUGURATION OF BOARD OF PATRONS AND ALUMNI NETWORK
Recently LRC’s Executive Director, Ms. Daphne Lariba Nabila, chaired the re-launch of Project Citizen. Project Citizen is an exciting opportunity of in-school youths aged 11-18 to research into community and national problems and work together to come up with innovative solutions to those problems.The theme for the event was "Advancing together- the youth at the forefront"
Over the years issues such as Drug Menace, HIV-Aids, Sanitation and Road Crashes have all been addressed. Students involved in the project learn Community Involvement, teamwork and become part of the solution. Furthermore, students who participate from the senior level develop research, writing, public speaking and graphic design skills which will help them later in life.
So far Project Citizen covers 195 institutions, including 2 schools for the blind and 3 schools for the deaf. At competition level Accra High School became the overall winner in 2006 in the African Regional Showcase, and again winning an award in 2007 in Washington DC. Also, Christ the King International School was granted a school bus after the students brought attention to the effects of the lack of a school bus on their activities.
The project is currently limited to selected schools only, however, the commission intends to expand the scope of the project to cover all schools in Ghana as well as involving out-of-school youth.
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07

Feb

LRC IN THE MEDIA
The LRC published two Articles in the Daily Graphic and Chronicle on 29th January 2013 and 6th February 2013.
• The Mandate of Legal Aid Scheme In Respect Of Election Disputes
The establishment of the Legal Aid Scheme in 1997 guaranteed that all members of society will have access to justice and legal representation, even if they cannot afford it; however, further education and measures by the government and other members of society are necessary to ensure this important goal is met. With the provision Legal Aid Scheme across the country, through the Legal Aid Scheme Act 1997, (Act 542), lower income persons can now access justice and have their electoral disputes heard or represented when charged by the State. This is as a result of the scheme providing legal representation in court, legal advice, and mediation with parties in connection with electoral disputes as well as providing financial waivers in filing cases to court for these persons especially those in the rural areas. Click here for the Article
• Challenging the Validity of Presidential Elections in Ghana
Any citizen of Ghana who is registered as a voter may present a Petition to the Registrar of the Supreme Court within 21 days of the declaration of the Presidential results by the Chairman of the Electoral Commission challenging the election of the President. It is important to note that in August this year (i.e. 2012), new rules were made which attempt to shorten the time within such cases will be heard. Click here for the Article

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01

Feb

STAR GHANA AWARDS HEALTH CONTRACT TO LRC
STAR-Ghana on Thursday 31st January, 2013 signed a grant agreement with 49 organizations to execute various projects in the Health and Oil and Gas sectors. LRC was one of the organizations that received the awards and will work on the “Right to Health Project- Greater Accountability and Responsiveness of the National Health Insurance Scheme to rural and Informal sector Populations”.
This project which spans over a two-year period seeks to promote access, transparency and accountability within the Health sector in Ghana.
The signing ceremony was chaired by Prof. Akilagpa Sawyerr, Chair of STAR-Ghana’s Steering Committee. In attendance were STAR-Ghana’s Funders’ Committee (DFID, DANIDA, the European Union and the USAID).

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30

Jan

UNIQUE FM INTERVIEWS LRC ON ELECTION DISPUTES
On 29th January 2013 at 9.00 am, Unique Fm interviewed LRC on Electoral disputes.
LRC in partnership with STAR-Ghana with funding from DFID, DANIDA, EU and USAID, granted an interview to Unique FM on Electoral disputes. Mr. AlhassanYahaya Seini, Director of Legal Aid Scheme, Ghana, discussed issues on how indigents can have their disputes resolved in an acceptable manner on the FM station.
Ghana went to the polls on 7th December 2012 to elect a President and MP Representatives for the various constituencies. During the elections, disputes & offences may have arisen during the process. Because the cost of challenging an election or defending oneself in court is costly, particularly the price of legal representation, many members of society do not feel they have the ability to participate in the justice system in a meaningful way.

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07

Jan

WELCOME TO 2013

On behalf of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff, we welcome you all to 2013. Monday, 7th January, 2013 marks the beginning of a new working year. We thank the Almighty God for ushering all of us into the New Year. We also thank our Clients, Partners, Donors, Individuals and Organizations for working with us. From the LRC Family we wish you all a Fruitful working year.
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20

Dec

CHRISTMAS BREAK

LRC breaks for Christmas on Friday, 21st December 2012 and resumes on Monday 7th January 2013. We wish all our partners a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. See you in 2013.
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13

Nov

TRAINING WORKSHOP ON: TECHNICALITIES OF INSTITUTING AN ELECTION CASE IN THE SPECIALISED COURTS

LRC, with the support of STAR-Ghana, is organising a day’s training workshop on the topic “Technicalities of Instituting an Election Case in the Specialised Courts” for selected stakeholders in the Southern and Northern sectors on Thursday the 15th of November 2012 at 9.00am at Miklin Hotel and on Tuesday the 27th of November 2012 at 9.00am at Radach Memorial Centre respectively. The training workshops aim at explaining to participants the workings of the electoral court; the kinds of offences for which an action may be brought; special rules that pertain to the operation of the court; how to institute an action in the court; specific courts that have been set aside to hear election cases before, during and after the 2012 elections across the country and so on.

The Guest Speaker for the Southern Workshop will be Justice Vincent C.R.A.C. Crabbe. The Guest Speaker for the Northern Sector training will be Justice L.L. Mensah.

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24

Sep

CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP

As a member of the Ghana Death Penalty Abolition Coalition, the LRC took part in a day’s capacity building workshop on Monday 24th September, 2012. The Executive Director gave a presentation on the “Overview of Death Sentences in Ghana”. She talked on the current situation of legal representation for accused persons, the process of determining the guilt of an accused person and the prerogative of mercy. The Director of Amnesty International Ghana on the other hand highlighted some issues surrounding the death penalty in the year 2011 and gave the implications of the Coalition’s cause following the just ended constitutional review process. The purpose of this workshop was to give members an update of activities by the Coalition over the last quarter and also to forge ahead with its mandate.

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24

Aug

LRC TAKES PART IN CAPACITY BUILDING & REVIEW OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING INTERVENTIONS FOR PARTNERS WORSHOP

The Human Trafficking Secretariat of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) is organising a two day programme. The programme aims at building the capacity of state actors in human trafficking and the review of Human Trafficking Interventions with their partners on the 27th and 28th of August, 2012.

LRC as a consultant to the Secretariat is supporting MOWAC on a number of issues including stakeholders input into a draft Legislative Instrument submitted to AG's department. Stakeholders will also be required to make input into MOWACs media strategy, its National Plan of Action (NPA) and mobilization strategy.

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