Parliament has passed the Legal Education Reform Bill, 2025, marking a major shift in how lawyers are trained in Ghana, with reforms aimed at widening access, improving standards and introducing a new pathway to the Bar.
Here are 10 key things to know about the Bill, which, if assented to by President John Dramani Mahama, will allow other universities, including private institutions, to be accredited to offer professional legal programmes;
1. It ends the monopoly of the Ghana School of Law
For decades, the Ghana School of Law (HSL) has been the sole institution responsible for professional legal training. The new law seeks to break that monopoly and open up the system.
2. New regulator to oversee legal education
The Bill establishes a Council for Legal Education and Training to regulate professional legal education and set standards and curriculum.
3. Universities can now offer professional law training
If assented to by the President, the law will allow accredited public and private universities to run professional legal programmes.
4. Introduction of a National Bar Examination
A single, standardised National Bar Examination will be introduced for all candidates seeking to practise law in Ghana.
5. Law Practice Training Course becomes mandatory
All prospective lawyers must undertake a Law Practice Training Course at an accredited institution before sitting the Bar exam.
6. Shift from theory to practical training
The new course will prioritise clinical legal education and practical lawyering skills instead of a largely theoretical approach.
7. Entry still requires an LLB degree
Graduates with a Bachelor of Laws or other recognised law degrees must first gain admission into the training course before qualifying for the Bar.
8. Reform targets long-standing bottlenecks
The Attorney-General, Dominic Ayine, said the reforms are designed to remove barriers that have made it difficult even for top-performing graduates to gain admission into professional legal training.
“We are also introducing the National Bar Exam so that those who go through the law practice training course at the accredited universities can all write the National Bar Exam, which will be a standardised exam that will be administered by the Council for Legal Education and its Bar Examination Committee,” he said.
9. Government hails it as a ‘new era’
The Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, described the Bill as a turning point for fairness and access.
“With the Bill successfully passed, we believe that this is the dawn of a new era where all students will be fairly treated.
“Which ever law school you go to and whichever law faculty you attend, all of us will end up at the doors of the National Bar Examination. Whether you went to Legon, UDS or you went to UCC or Winneba, we will all end up at the same place and it is there that lawyers will be determined.
“We want all to witness that we have kept the promise,” he said.
10. Minority backs Bill but raises wider concerns
The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, acknowledged the Bill as a fulfilled campaign promise but criticised the government on other commitments.
“Mr Speaker, the President spoke about sole sourcing at the manifesto launch and talked about no sole sourcing at his first and second State of the Nation Addresses.
“But today, we know that they are the apostles of sole sourcing, and we know today that at the Presidency, the Deputy Chief of Staff has been awarded an 11 million cedi sole sourcing contract,” he said.
He added: “The very thing that they said they would not do is what they are doing”.
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