New Legal Education bill to introduce University-Led Bar Training

The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has announced sweeping reforms to Ghana’s legal education system. The changes will see the Ghana School of Law phased out and replaced with a decentralized, university-led model.

Under the new framework, universities offering the LLB degree will introduce a one-year Bar Practice Programme as part of the pathway to professional legal practice. Upon completion, graduates will sit for a new national bar examination, which will determine their eligibility for admission to the Bar.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Monday, July 28, 2025, Dr. Ayine revealed that the reforms are captured in a Legal Education Bill, which has been finalised and will be submitted to Cabinet in August for consideration.

“The bill will abolish the Ghana School of Law system,” Dr. Ayine stated. “Universities will be allowed to provide practical legal education internally, and successful students will write a national bar exam, just like what is done by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.”

The move, he explained, is aimed at eliminating long-standing bottlenecks and making legal education more accessible to qualified LLB holders across both public and private universities. For decades, thousands of graduates have struggled to gain admission to the Ghana School of Law despite holding qualifying degrees, leading to widespread frustration and limited access to the legal profession.

Under the proposed changes, law graduates will complete a three-year LLB programme followed by a one-year clinical legal education or Bar Practice Programme at their respective universities. Afterward, they will take a standardized national bar exam that qualifies them for call to the Bar and professional legal practice.

Dr. Ayine emphasized that while the reforms expand access, they will not compromise quality.

“We are shifting from exclusion to inclusion,” he said. “Our aim is to ensure that all qualified LLB holders have a clear and merit-based path to becoming lawyers.”

He also noted that the final draft of the bill was sent to his deputy, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, for review on Sunday, July 27, ahead of the announcement.

Addressing questions about the inclusion of private universities, Dr. Ayine clarified that although access will be expanded, the government will not fund professional legal education in private institutions.

“Government funding for private universities is a privilege, not a right,” he stated. “We are already stretched supporting public institutions.”

The proposed bill seeks not only to reform legal training, but also to decentralize and modernize the pathway to the legal profession—making it more transparent, merit-driven, and efficient.