GhArticles.com Every News in Detail
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has announced a major reform to Ghana’s legal education system that will see the current Ghana School of Law admissions process replaced with a national bar examination.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series in Accra on Monday, July 28, Dr. Ayine said the changes are part of a new legal education bill expected to be presented to Cabinet in August 2025. The reform aims to decentralise professional legal training and expand opportunities for all qualified Bachelor of Laws (LLB) graduates across the country.
Under the proposed model, LLB graduates from accredited institutions will undertake a one-year Bar Practice Programme at their respective universities. Upon completion, they will sit for a unified national bar exam to qualify as legal practitioners.
“The bill will abolish the Ghana School of Law system,” Dr. Ayine stated. “Universities will be allowed to provide practical legal education internally, and successful students will write a national bar exam, just like what is done by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.”
The announcement addresses years of criticism of the current centralised system, which has been widely accused of limiting access to legal education. Many qualified law graduates have repeatedly failed to gain admission to the Ghana School of Law due to the restrictive intake process.
Dr. Ayine emphasised that the new approach is meant to shift the legal training framework from one of exclusion to one of inclusion.
“We are shifting from exclusion to inclusion. Our aim is to ensure that all qualified LLB holders have a clear and merit-based path to becoming lawyers,” he added.
He further noted that the final draft of the legal education bill was submitted to his deputy, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, on Sunday, July 27, for review, ahead of its formal submission to Cabinet. If approved, the changes are expected to transform legal education and make the path to the bar more equitable and accessible.
