President John Dramani Mahama has signed the Legal Education Reform Bill (2025) into law, marking a major shift in Ghana’s legal education system and offering relief to thousands of aspiring lawyers.
The new legislation effectively ends the 66-year exclusive mandate of the Ghana School of Law as the sole institution responsible for professional legal training in the country.
Under the new framework, accredited universities will now be permitted to offer professional law programmes, widening access to legal training for students who complete their first degrees in law.
The Ghana School of Law, established in 1958, has for decades been the only institution authorised to provide the professional course required for admission to the Ghana Bar. This system has long created significant admission constraints, with hundreds of qualified law graduates annually unable to secure places despite meeting academic requirements.
The reform follows years of advocacy from legal educators, students, and policy reform groups who argued that the existing structure created unnecessary barriers to entry into the legal profession.
With the new law now in force, more universities are expected to participate in training future lawyers, easing pressure on the Ghana School of Law and expanding opportunities for law graduates.
The reform is also expected to reduce the backlog of qualified applicants, improve access to professional legal education, and strengthen the overall capacity of Ghana’s legal sector.
Source:
oyerepafmonline.com