Professional law training to be reduced to one year under Legal Education Reform Act — Dafeamekpor

The Majority Chief Whip in Parliament, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has disclosed that Ghana’s professional law programme will now be reduced from two years to one year following the passage of the Legal Education Reform Act, 2026.

The new law, assented to on Monday, May 11 by President John Dramani Mahama, forms part of comprehensive reforms aimed at expanding access to legal education and addressing long-standing admission constraints at the Ghana School of Law.

For years, thousands of LLB graduates have struggled to gain admission into the professional law course, a mandatory requirement for qualification as a lawyer in Ghana.

A key reform under the new legislation removes the Ghana School of Law’s long-standing monopoly and allows accredited tertiary institutions to run professional legal training programmes.

Speaking on Accra-based JoyNews’ AM Show on Tuesday, the South Dayi MP said the reform is designed to restructure legal training and improve efficiency in the system.

“The training at the professional level will be reduced from two years to one year… the intention is to shift some of the academically oriented courses like taxation, company law, family law, labour law,” he explained.

He noted that such academic courses would be moved into earlier stages of the curriculum, allowing professional training to focus more on practical legal skills.

According to him, the revised structure will prioritise advocacy, drafting, interpretation and courtroom practice to better prepare graduates for legal practice.

“The professional student will spend more time on civil procedure, criminal procedure, advocacy drafting, legislative drafting, as well as drafting of instruments, interpretation, evidence related,” he stated.

Dafeamekpor further indicated that implementation of the reforms is expected to begin ahead of the next academic year, with institutions preparing for accreditation and admissions rollout.

The South Dayi MP added that a new legal education council will oversee accreditation, monitoring and quality assurance under the restructured system.