Protectionist Legal Education System in Ghana: Many Cases, Few Lawyers, No Appetite for Change

In the last few years, there has been mass failure of students in the Bar examinations. This has caused agitation among students and other advocates (with Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare in the lead) demanding reforms of the country’s legal education system.

We were optimistic that the battle was coming to a head – that a wise solution encompassing all stakeholders - until we read the latest comment of her Ladyship the Chief Justice. She is quoted to have said the following:

“Those of you lawyers and those of your lecturers who are busy advocating free scale, mass admissions into the professional law course, and mass production of lawyers, be careful what you wish for. So long as I have anything to do with it, it won’t happen. Just like you can’t mass produce doctors and surgeons, Ghanaians must not have mass-produced lawyers imposed on them. Those of us who have been too long on the General Legal Council, those of us who spent too long on the disciplinary committee, we’ve cause to worry because the kinds of misconduct are such that there is no way anybody envisaged these categories of misconduct when the Legal Profession Act was being enacted in the 1960s.”

This statement confuses and reveals in great depth the needless apprehension of a privileged few! At the same time, it unfolds certain message to the people of Ghana. The whole legal training system is running purely on elitism, favouritism, class, and profit making. In fact, the ways of the legal education system are no different from other such ‘tightly enclosed club’. Except that, what we see at the Ghana Law School is greater in chaos, profound in incompetence, and a display of numbing conservatism.

We are not lawyers but simplistic economics proves that prices of goods and services increases when there is scarcity. If this statement holds, why should we then encourage a legal educational system that produces 2000 student annually yet only 500 privileged few are considered for training at the Ghana Law School, out of which less than 500 eventually get called unto the bar?

So, what happens to the rest of students who do not get the chance to make it to legal school or out of it. The latter is even scary?

Our country lacks doctors. She lacks Lawyer and surgeons to serve her people. Yet the concept of capitalism and elitism has invaded our education system, giving power to few people to decide what we need as a country. These are the same people who determine what should be considered knowledge or not. Further, they propagate this ideology of making few people practice just to keep themselves rich at the expense of many.

Becoming a lawyer, doctor or surgeon should not be a scheme devised for a privileged few. Countries like India produce mass engineers and this has contributed to the growth of their economy, information and communication sector.

Do we need mass lawyers? Yes! The Attorney-General’s Office is under-staffed. The country’s legal aid system is stretched to breaking point. Even our judiciary system is very slow, and we need more lawyer to provide respite to plaintiffs and defendants in getting legal advice, settling disputes, and guiding Alternative Dispute Resolution matters. The high cost of accessing Justice has tumble. The delays must go. The poor should have justice. Justice should be served in time. We can do more with more lawyers! lawyers are social scientist that can help in the development of our country.

The is the space for more, and Her Ladyship the Chief Justice should be seen to be adding her energy to the popular, positive call to fix a broken, chaotic, elitist, sharp-device-enclosing legal system.

Written by:
Mr. Felix Dade(Educator, Peace Advocate, Youth Coach and Social Development Worker) and

Mr. Tsifodze Ernest ( Author, Real Estate Learner and Thinker)