The long-standing and often controversial centralised admissions system of the Ghana School of Law (GSL), located at Makola in Accra, is set to be scrapped under sweeping legal education reforms announced by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Monday, July 28, 2025, Dr Ayine revealed that a new Legal Education Bill has been finalised and will be presented to Cabinet in August.
The proposed legislation seeks to decentralise professional legal training in Ghana and remove the bottlenecks that have historically plagued access to the legal profession.
Universities to run practical legal programme
Under the new framework, all accredited universities offering the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree will be authorised to run an additional one-year Bar Practice Programme (BPP) for their students.
This practical training will replace the centralised Ghana School of Law system and serve as the final stage of professional preparation before students sit for a new, nationwide Bar examination.
“Universities will be allowed to provide practical legal education internally,” Dr Ayine said.
“Upon completion, all students—regardless of where they trained—will write a national bar exam. It will be similar to the system used by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.”
He explained that this national exam would be the sole determinant for qualification into the legal profession, effectively removing the current Ghana School of Law’s entrance exams and limited intake structure.
A shift from exclusion to inclusion
Dr Ayine acknowledged years of public dissatisfaction with the GSL’s restrictive admission system, which has consistently denied access to thousands of qualified LLB graduates due to space constraints and low pass rates on the mandatory entrance exam.
“This bill abolishes the Ghana School of Law system as we know it,” he declared.
“We are shifting from exclusion to inclusion. Our aim is to ensure that all qualified LLB holders have a clear and merit-based path to becoming lawyers.”
He confirmed that the final draft of the Legal Education Bill was sent to his deputy, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, on Sunday, July 27 for final review ahead of its Cabinet submission.
No government funding for private legal training
Addressing concerns about the impact of the new model on private universities, Dr Ayine clarified that while the government supports expanding access to legal education, public funding would not be extended to professional training conducted at private institutions.
“Government funding for private universities is a privilege, not a right,” he stated firmly. “We are already stretched supporting public institutions.”
A History of Mass Failures
The announcement comes in the wake of recurring controversies surrounding entrance exams into the Ghana School of Law.
In 2019, the school experienced one of its most dramatic mass failures, with only 128 out of nearly 1,820 candidates passing the entrance exam, resulting in a pass rate of just 7 per cent.
A 2020 publication by the Independent Examination Committee of the General Legal Council (GLC) revealed a marginal improvement, with 1,045 students passing out of 2,720 candidates, representing a 38 per cent pass rate.
However, in 2021, the rate dipped again, with only 790 candidates out of 2,824 passing—just 28 per cent.
While the GSL recorded better performance rates among Part Two Professional Law Course students in 2022—with 81 per cent of over 800 students passing—critics argue that the school’s restrictive entry point had already excluded thousands of qualified graduates before they could even begin professional legal training.
Legal sector poised for transformation
If passed, the new bill will mark the most significant reform of Ghana’s legal education in decades, opening the path to the Bar to a wider pool of students without compromising on standards.
“This is not about lowering the bar,” Dr Ayine stressed.
“It is about giving every qualified LLB graduate a fair chance—whether they studied in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, or Ho. We want a legal education system that is both rigorous and fair.”
Stakeholders in the legal education sector, including university law faculties, professional bodies, and students, are expected to closely monitor the bill’s progress through Cabinet and Parliament in the coming months.
