The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has revealed that steps are underway to scrap the long-standing Ghana School of Law entrance exams and replace them with a standardized National Entrance Exam as part of ongoing legal education reforms.
This development follows years of advocacy by law graduates and students, who have argued that the current entrance exams restrict the number of LLB holders able to access the professional law programme.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on July 28, Dr. Ayine indicated that the proposed changes would be implemented in the coming months. He noted that a bill to facilitate the reforms has already been drafted and is awaiting Cabinet deliberation.
“The promise is that we are going to oversee reforms in the country’s legal education space in a way that expands access for more LLB graduates. Every year, various law faculties in our universities churn out hundreds of LLB graduates who cannot become lawyers due to their inability to enter the Ghana School of Law.
“The bill to remedy this situation is already drafted by my office and will be submitted to Cabinet for further consideration and approval next month,” he stated.
The reforms aim to decentralize legal education, particularly the professional training phase, and offer greater access to LLB graduates from accredited universities.
Under the new model, LLB graduates will undertake a one-year bar practice programme (clinical programme) at their respective universities. Upon completion, they will sit for a National Bar Exam to qualify for professional legal practice.
“After completing the LLB course successfully, graduates will now do what we term a clinical programme in the university where the course was studied for an additional year, after which the National Bar Exam will be written to fully qualify for a professional legal career,” Dr. Ayine explained.
He added that the draft bill has been submitted to his deputy, Dr. Justice Srem Sai, for review ahead of its presentation to Cabinet.
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Story by Sika Togoh|univers.ug.edu.gh
