The looming crisis in professional Legal Education - A call for radical reforms

There is mounting evidence that, as a society, we are headed in the direction of a crisis in professional legal education. This has come about because we have operated, and continue to operate, a system of professional legal education that threatens to leave a whole generation of young men and women who hold Bachelor of Law (LLB) degrees without the professional qualification to practise law as a profession.

I had the occasion, in my capacity as Deputy Attorney General, to address the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) at its 2015 annual general conference in Kumasi on the theme of the rule of law. In my said address, I touched on issues concerning professional legal education as an integral part of the process of deepening the rule of law in our country. I lamented the situation where young men and women, otherwise qualified under the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32) could not gain entry into the Ghana School of Law (GSL) and are roaming the streets without an inkling about their fate. I pointed out then that this problem was caused by the inability of the Ghana School of Law to absorb the growing number of law students from the various feeder institutions accredited, ironically, by the General Legal Council. This problem of capacity has been caused by the inability of the General Legal Council to anticipate and plan for the growing demand for professional legal education; that demand, it may be argued, mirrors the demand for legal services in the country (whether real or nominal).

It is this issue of capacity, or the lack thereof, which led to the suit in Asare v Attorney-General & the General Legal Council. Among others, the plaintiff sought declaratory reliefs to the effect that the failure of the General Legal Council to admit students otherwise qualified under the Legal Profession Act, as well as its failure to specify alternative places or modes of instruction for such students was unconstitutional. And the Supreme Court agreed. The court ordered that the council should put in place a regulatory framework that conformed to its mandate under the Legal Profession Act and ensure that the new system of admission was in place for the 2018 legal year.

Approach to legal education

There is overwhelming evidence that the approach to professional legal education in this country has not kept pace with the times and with the demands of society. The fixed-facility approach, whereby the Ghana School of Law exercises the monopoly to provide professional legal education is working grave injustice, not only for the students desirous of becoming future legal practitioners, but on society as a whole.

The accountants in this country do not have a Ghana School of Accountancy with the monopoly to train accountants and yet we have some of the best accountants in the world. The same can be said of other professions such as engineering. In other common law jurisdictions, such monopoly does not exist. Even where it exists such as in Kenya, innovative ways have been found to increase access and maintain high standards. Kenya currently licenses 12 institutions to provide legal education leading to the award of degrees and diplomas but the Kenyan School of Law admits 1,200 law students annually. In contrast, the Ghana School of Law admits only 500 students annually. As I write, there is currently a cohort of close to 2000 LLB degree holders roaming the streets.

Parliament in its wisdom granted the General Legal Council broad discretionary power under section 13(2) of the Legal Profession Act that could have been used to good effect in averting the crisis that we now face in professional legal education. This is to the effect that the council may provide legal education either through “a school of law set up by them or through any other educational institution.” In making regulations to give effect to this broad discretionary power, the council, with the approval of the Attorney-General, decided to stick only to the first option even in the face of mounting evidence that a crisis was looming in the horizon as a result of that choice.

In my considered opinion, the current crisis could have been averted if the council had made arrangements for the provision of professional legal education through other institutions, either in addition to or instead of the Ghana School of Law. That statutory power still exists and the General Legal Council must utilise that power speedily and to license the existing and recognised law faculties to run clinical legal education programmes in accordance with a uniform curriculum approved by the council and its subsidiary body, the Board of Legal Education. The products of these programmes would then sit a national bar examination set by the GLC and those who qualify would be duly called to the Ghana Bar.

Conservative idea

I am keenly aware that there is a concern out there among a certain conservative breed of lawyers that expansion of access will necessarily result in the lowering of standards. But this concern has neither empirical nor theoretical strength; we can expand access and maintain or even increase standards. For instance, where the council exercises the option of licensing a multiplicity of providers of professional legal education, it must be prepared to adopt a rigorous inspection process that enables a review of teaching and learning in the licensed institutions and those found wanting would have their licences revoked. I am certain that a rigorous inspection programme and a sanctions regime fairly applied across the board to all licensed institutions would ensure the maintenance of high quality standards in professional legal education.

Suggestion

In the alternative, a more radical approach would be for Parliament to enact a new Professional Legal Education Act which would, among others, abolish the Ghana School of Law and its monopolistic grip on professional legal education, and turn the GLC into a body solely dedicated to curriculum development and the conduct of the National Bar Examination and the licensing of law faculties wishing to run clinical legal education programmes for their students who wish to sit for the National Bar Examination.

The judgement of the Supreme Court may rightly be described as a mere palliative to a deep ailment. The solution to the problem lies squarely within the political realm and we must take the bull by the horn and enact radical and far-reaching reforms geared towards expanding access to professional legal education without compromising quality.

Finally, as a country, we should not see the rising interest in professional legal education as a profound threat to the status quo but as an opportunity to increase the quality and the availability of legal services in the market for such services. Therefore, to stack the cards or load the dice against young men and women aspiring to be lawyers is not the mark of a progressive society.

Writer’s Email: akuritinga@gmail.com