We extend warm congratulations to His Excellency, President John Dramani Mahama for the bold step to sign the Legal Education Reform Bill (2025) into law. The decision is a game-changing development in Ghana’s legal history, putting an end to almost seven decades of exclusive rights enjoyed in professional legal education by the Ghana School of Law.
For six (6) decades and a half-dozen years, the dreams of thousands of aspiring lawyers were unable to be pursued and their ambitions were hindered and prevented access to legal education due to limitation of the Ghana School of Law as the sole institute responsible for the professional training of lawyers. The president confirms his commitment to equal opportunity and modernization of the country’s legal infrastructure through decentralization of legal education and empowering accredited universities to offer professional legal course.
This new reform allows legal faculties at various universities in Ghana to training and prepare students to become lawyers after passing a standard national Bar exam. The reform also ends a long-standing entrance exam that has prevented students with law degrees from getting the opportunity to pursue the dream of becoming a lawyer. The entrance exam was against the backdrop of limited infrastructure, discrimination, and the monopolization of legal education.
Liberalizing the access to professional legal education does not obstruct existing policies or the process but rather is a step towards liberation and the equal opportunities to both aspiring lawyers and the general public. The core idea is to have enough skilled and competent lawyers while strengthening, and maintaining quality of legal education.
This reform ensures excellence remains the only means of becoming and practicing as a lawyer in Ghana. Accredited universities will provide competition, stimulate innovation in legal pedagogy and boost the quality of legal services in Ghana.
We also commend the President for his foresightedness and his response to the demands of students, parents, teachers, and legal practitioners, all of whom have cried out and protested for this change to see the light of day. With this step, Ghana is in harmony with the best practices in the world while also equipping our legal profession to handle the 21st-century challenges.
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