Parliament has approved the Legal Education Bill, 2025, marking a major step toward overhauling Ghana’s legal education system.
The legislation establishes a Council for Legal Education and Training to oversee and regulate legal education while setting uniform curriculum standards across institutions.
A central feature of the reform is the transfer of professional legal training from the Ghana School of Law to accredited universities, effectively ending the institution’s long-standing monopoly.
Under the new arrangement, approved universities will offer a Law Practice Training Course designed to prepare candidates for a National Bar Examination.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga said the passage of the Bill delivers on the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s pledge to expand access to legal education and ensure fairness in the system.
“As has been typical of the NDC, promises made are delivered. We assured law students that we would implement reforms to guarantee equity, fairness, and access to legal education,” he stated.
However, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin criticised the government, arguing that while the reforms are commendable, other key campaign promises remain unfulfilled.
“All of us have contributed to this process. This is not a partisan bill, even though it was a campaign promise. Mr Speaker, they also pledged to establish a Women’s Bank, yet two years on, nothing has been done,” he remarked.
