Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has assured that the integrity of Ghana’s legal profession will not be compromised following Parliament’s passage of the Legal Education Bill.
He said the reforms, which will allow accredited universities to provide professional legal training, are aimed at expanding access while maintaining standards.
The Chief Justice gave the assurance in Accra during the enrolment of 155 new lawyers to the Bar, just a day after Parliament passed the bill on Thursday.
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Addressing the new lawyers, he acknowledged long-standing concerns about access to legal education and the pressure it has placed on the system.
“For some time now, Ghana has struggled with a difficult balance: how to expand access to legal education while maintaining professional standards,” he said.
He noted that the situation had created “tension between numbers and quality, between opportunity and credibility.”
According to him, the newly passed bill seeks to resolve this challenge.
“We are now resolving that tension,” he stated, explaining that the Legal Education Reform Bill, once assented to by the President, will introduce a new system that expands access without lowering standards.
Under the new arrangement, accredited universities will be permitted to offer both academic and professional legal training, a responsibility that has traditionally been handled by the Ghana School of Law.
The Chief Justice said a national bar examination would be introduced to ensure uniform standards across the board.
“A national bar examination will serve as a uniform standard of professional qualification,” he explained.
He added that the reform would reduce institutional bottlenecks and help clear the large number of law graduates who have been unable to proceed with professional training.
“Institutional bottlenecks will be reduced and the long-standing backlog of students awaiting professional training will be addressed,” he said.
Mr Baffoe-Bonnie further said that the changes would strengthen transparency and credibility in the qualification process.
“The integrity of the qualification process will be strengthened through transparent, standardised assessments,” he said.
He summed up the intent of the reform, stating: “The principle is simple. Opportunity must be widened, but standards must be held firmly.”
The Chief Justice also used the occasion to advise the newly enrolled lawyers to uphold high ethical standards in their practice.
“In this profession, how you begin matters a great deal,” he told them, cautioning that early habits and decisions would shape their careers.
He urged them to be mindful of small ethical lapses, which can gradually undermine professional integrity.
“You will soon discover that the greatest threat to your professional life rarely comes in the form of some dramatic ethical crisis. It usually arrives in small, seemingly harmless compromises,” he said.
“Guard your integrity jealously,” he said.
Meanwhile, some members of the public and prospective lawyers have welcomed the passage of the bill, describing it as a step in the right direction.
One prospective lawyer said the reform would make legal education more accessible.
“I believe that everybody is entitled to make it to the Bar if only you want to be a lawyer,” the individual said, adding that the bill would help reduce unnecessary restrictions.
Another supporter noted that the changes could help address gaps in the legal sector.
“There is so much gap when it comes to the legal field, and even having access to legal professionals is a gap we need to close,” the person said.
Others pointed to the growing number of law graduates who have struggled to gain admission into the Ghana School of Law.
“I know about three to five thousand people with LLB degrees trying to get into the law school that they cannot get into,” one person said, describing the reform as long overdue.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com