New era for legal education
Legal education in Ghana has long been regarded as one of the most daunting paths for aspiring lawyers.
For years, the requirement for all LLB holders to pass the independent entrance examination conducted by the General Legal Council (GLC) before gaining admission to the Ghana School of Law has created a bottleneck in the system.
The school’s limited facilities have meant that only a fraction of candidates secure admission each year. In 2025, for instance, of the over 4,036 LLB graduates who sat the entrance examination for the Professional Law Course at Makola, only 2,042 were admitted, alongside 390 repeat students. Yet the school’s optimal capacity stands at just 2,500.
As a result, some students have attempted the examination multiple times without success.
The paradox is striking. While the public perception suggests a glut of lawyers in the country, the Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, recently disclosed that there are only about 5,000 practising lawyers in Ghana.
This shortage is keenly felt across the districts, municipalities, metropolitan assemblies, and government institutions, which ideally require at least one lawyer per unit. It is clear that the status quo is unsustainable.
In response, the Attorney-General, through the Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic A. Ayine, has championed a reform that promises to transform legal education. Under the proposed Legal Education Reform Bill, 2025, accredited law faculties across the country will now run both the theoretical and practical components of legal training.
Students will no longer be required to sit for the Professional Law Course examination at Makola.
After completing both aspects at their universities, they will take a national bar examination, overseen by the GLC, before being called to the bar.
The rollout is expected to begin in August 2026.
The Daily Graphic welcomes this move as a decisive step towards broadening access to the legal profession.
Decentralising training not only opens opportunities for more prospective students but also addresses the critical shortage of lawyers nationwide.
By allowing universities to integrate professional training with academic coursework, Ghana can better harness its talent pool and produce lawyers equipped for modern legal challenges.
However, the success of this initiative hinges on careful implementation.
Key considerations include maintaining the quality of training across all accredited faculties.
The GLC’s collaboration with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) is crucial in this regard.
Accreditation, faculty standards, and oversight must ensure that the training delivered outside Makola remains rigorous and consistent with national expectations.
The draft bill rightly sets out criteria for faculty leadership, administration, staffing, and academic standards, alongside provisions for inspections and appeals processes.
Transitional arrangements will also be critical.
No student should be stranded or disadvantaged as the system shifts.
The backlog of candidates awaiting admission must be managed equitably, and universities running LLB programmes must be prepared to integrate the professional training component seamlessly.
The GLC and GTEC must work in close coordination to ensure that these transitional measures uphold fairness, quality and credibility.
The decentralisation of legal education also has broader social implications.
By opening access to practical training, the profession is no longer reserved for an elite few.
This aligns with Ghana’s broader educational policy and the government’s vision of expanding professional opportunities to all capable students, regardless of background.
In the long term, this could strengthen the legal profession, improve access to justice across the country, and enhance the rule of law at all levels of governance.
The Daily Graphic therefore commends the Chief Justice, the Attorney-General, and the Minister of Justice for initiating this bold reform.
We urge all stakeholders, including universities, the GLC, and GTEC, to ensure that the decentralisation of legal education is implemented efficiently, transparently, and with uncompromising quality.
Ghana’s future lawyers deserve a system that is fair, accessible and robust—one that reflects the nation’s commitment to both excellence and inclusivity.
With careful planning, strong oversight and commitment to quality, this reform promises to transform legal education in Ghana, ensuring that the next generation of lawyers is well-prepared, widely distributed, and ready to serve the nation.
Legal education, once seen as the preserve of the elite, can finally become a truly national endeavour.
