Lawyer and Professor of Accounting Stephen Kweku Asare one of the biggest critics of the legal education in Ghana has hit back at the Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo for her comments on Ghana having few quality lawyers than having many who are not good enough.
The Chief Justice for the third time this year says she prefers Ghana having few quality lawyers than mass-producing many who may not be good enough.
Her comments follow calls from several stakeholders for the government to reform legal education amid the consistent mass failure of law students who sit for the Ghana School of Law entrance exam.
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The Chief Justice has always argued that allowing more people to train as lawyers will negatively affect the quality lawyers.
Speaking on the topic ‘Questing for Excellence’ at the 2019 University of Ghana Alumni Lectures, Justice Akuffo told the gathering “a good lawyer for each Ghanaian is what we deserve. Not a lot of lawyers.
Professor Kwaku Asare who is a D&D Fellow in Public Law and Justice at CDD-Ghana described the Chief Justice’s position as a “false dilemma" and believes with innovation, technology and strategic thinking it's possible to mass-produce good lawyers.
“There Ohemaa [queen] Sophia goes again with her false dilemma —- ‘we need good lawyers, not lots of lawyers.’ Ohemaa, for your information, it is both possible and desirable to produce lots of good lawyers as happens in most countries that value justice. Innovation, technology and strategic thinking easily allow for both high quality and ‘mass-production’!†he wrote on Facebook.
The Chief Justice, who is Chairman of the General Legal Council (GLC), the body responsible for regulating the legal profession in the country, has always spoken against calls to open up legal education in Ghana.
The students who failed the entrance exam embarked on a demonstration which ended on a bad note as they clashed with the police.
The National Association of Law Students followed this up with a press conference that called on the president, Akufo-Addo, to make legal education more accessible by either repealing or amending the law governing it.
READ ALSO: Chief Justice got it wrong on mass production of lawyers - Inusah Fuseini
On Tuesday they succeeded in presenting their petition to the Presidency.