President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has signed the Legal Education Bill, 2025, into law, effectively ending the 66-year monopoly of the Ghana School of Law in the professional training of lawyers in Ghana.
The development opens the door for accredited universities to offer professional legal education programmes, following years of advocacy by stakeholders who have called for reforms in the country’s legal education system.
Speaking at the ceremony to assent to the bill, President Mahama stated that the new law seeks to achieve a dual purpose: maintaining high standards in legal education while expanding access to professional legal training.
“The bill, which has now received presidential assent, will play a dual role of maintaining high quality standards in legal training while expanding access to more persons who desire to acquire professional qualifications in law. Today’s development will bring relief to many aspiring lawyers and reduce the bottlenecks associated with the old system due to capacity challenges,” he said.
Since the establishment of the Ghana School of Law in the late 1950s, it has remained the sole institution mandated to provide the professional legal education required for admission to the Ghana Bar.
Critics of the previous system had long called for reforms, arguing that capacity limitations at the school left hundreds of qualified law graduates unable to secure admission for professional legal training.
Under the new framework, universities that meet accreditation requirements set by the appropriate regulatory bodies will be permitted to run professional legal education courses, significantly expanding access to legal training in the country.
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Story by Sika Togoh | univers.ug.edu.gh
Edited by Gabriel Tecco Mensah
