Parliament has passed the Legal Education Reform Bill, 2025, marking a major overhaul of the country’s legal education system aimed at expanding access while maintaining high standards.
The Bill establishes a Council for Legal Education and Training, which will regulate legal education and set curriculum standards across various institutions offering law programmes.
A central feature of the legislation is the decentralisation of professional legal education and training. The monopoly previously held by the Ghana School of Law will end, with accredited universities now allowed to run the professional training component.
Under the new framework, eligible candidates will undertake a Law Practice Training Course offered by approved universities, after which they will sit a National Bar Examination to qualify for call to the Bar.
Contributing to the debate before the passage, Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga said the passage of the Bill fulfils a key campaign promise by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to promote equity, fairness, and improved access to legal education.
“As has been typical of the NDC, promises made are delivered. We promised law students that if they vote for us, we will carry out reforms that will ensure equity, fairness and access to legal education,” he stated.
However, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin criticised the government, arguing that while the legal education reform is welcome, the NDC must equally fulfil other campaign promises made to Ghanaians.
“All of us have participated. This is not a bill that is identified with a particular party. I concede that indeed they made it a campaign promise. Mr Speaker, however, they equally promised that they were going to set up a bank for women. We are done with year one, year two, we have not seen the Women Bank,” he said.
The Bill, which was presented to the House by Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Dr Dominic Ayine, is expected to take effect in the coming academic year and significantly increase opportunities for LLB graduates to qualify as lawyers.