Ghana School of Law will not be abolished, it can also operate like any university offering LLB – Director

Director of Legal Education at the Ghana School of Law, His Lordship Barima Nana Yaw Oppong, has firmly dispelled speculations that the Ghana School of Law is on the verge of being dissolved, stating emphatically that the institution will continue to operate under Ghana’s evolving legal education framework.

His remarks follow the announcement by Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, of sweeping reforms aimed at transforming how legal education is administered in the country. Speaking during the Government Accountability Series in Accra on Monday, July 28, Dr. Ayine unveiled a plan to replace the current centralized admissions model with a national bar examination system.

Under the proposed reforms, all LLB graduates from accredited institutions would complete a one-year Bar Practice Programme at their respective universities and then take a standardized national bar exam to qualify as lawyers. This change is intended to decentralize professional legal training and eliminate the bottleneck created by the Ghana School of Law’s status as the exclusive gateway to the bar.

However, Barima Oppong, speaking during an interview on Channel One TV's The Point of View on Wednesday, July 30, reassured the public that the Ghana School of Law will remain a vital part of the country’s legal education ecosystem.

“The Ghana School of Law will not be abolished. Why will it be abolished? The Ghana School of Law can also operate like any university offering LLB,” he stated.

He clarified that rather than becoming obsolete, the School will adapt to the reforms and continue delivering legal education, potentially alongside other institutions under the new system.

In a further revelation, Barima Oppong disclosed that the School itself is taking proactive steps to shape the future of legal education. He said the faculty had recently convened to form a committee tasked with drafting its own legal education reform bill, which will soon be submitted to the Attorney-General for consideration.

“As we speak, Ghana School of Law lecturers had a meeting about a month ago. We established a committee. We have had our own bill,” he revealed. “I am telling the public for the first time that we are going to present [it] to the Attorney-General. I actually received the draft copy — it is almost ready — on Monday.”

The Director’s comments highlight the Ghana School of Law’s intention not only to survive the impending reforms but to actively influence their direction, as Ghana’s legal education system enters a new phase of liberalisation and expansion.