Breaking Makola’s gate: A legal education revolution

By Justice OFFEI Jr

According to the IMF, improving institutional governance—such as strengthening the rule of law and regulatory quality—can boost GDP growth by approximately 0.5 to 2.3 percentage points per unit increase in governance performance, based on cross-country analysis of reform impacts.

The World Bank likewise emphasizes that accountable, effective justice systems are essential to spurring private sector investment and reducing poverty—underscoring that better governance leads to higher economic returns and more equitable development.

By expanding the number of well-trained legal professionals and enhancing institutional capacity, Ghana stands to accelerate economic growth, improve business confidence, and strengthen the rule-of-law foundation that is critical for sustained GDP expansion.

Calls for reforming Ghana’s legal education system are not new. The first significant push dates back to the early 2000s when public frustration over limited access to the Ghana School of Law began to swell.

Over the years, key stakeholders including the General Legal Council, legal academics, students, civil society groups, and Members of Parliament have raised concerns about the exclusivity and rigidity of Ghana’s legal training model.

The 2011 Report of the Committee on Legal Education and the 2018 Parliamentary Petition by aggrieved LLB graduates marked pivotal moments. These efforts culminated in broader public engagement after viral protests in 2019 and 2021, where hundreds of qualified law students were denied entry despite passing entrance exams.

In 2022, the General Legal Council responded by reviewing its admission criteria and began considering decentralization models. That same year, the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department initiated stakeholder consultations to draft a comprehensive Legal Education Reform Bill, Laying the groundwork for the 2025 Legal Education Reform Bill.

This bill garners high-level political backing: as majority chief whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor openly declared, “We waged this war from about 2018… this bill will break the bottlenecks” and establish “as many lawyers as we want” with twice-yearly exams.

Former Attorney-General Betty Mould-Iddrisu—Ghana’s first female AG—endorsed decentralization, stating in 2023 that legal education’s colonial-era monopoly must yield to modern reform. As sitting Attorney-General Godfred Dame led Parliamentary drafts, Deputy AG Justice Srem Sai confirmed the bill would decouple the General Legal Council’s “stop‑gap” education role into separate institutions.

Veteran legal educator and former GSL Director Kwaku Ansa-Asare, while cautious, emphasized that the reform must integrate both academic and practical training—not just expand access. Even Supreme Court Justice Nene Amegatcher endorsed the effort, affirming the need for rigorous accreditation in both the National Accreditation Board and GLC —marking the most ambitious legal education overhaul since Ghana’s independence.

At the heart of the reform is a twofold objective: to democratize access to professional legal training and to elevate the quality of legal education to global standards. These reforms carry transformative potential for Ghana’s economy and legal system.

A more open and merit-based legal education structure will expand the pool of qualified lawyers, strengthen the justice delivery system, and enhance public confidence in legal institutions.

Over time, this will reduce litigation bottlenecks, promote contract enforcement, and improve business dispute resolution—all critical components for attracting foreign direct investment and enabling small and medium enterprise growth. As legal services grow, their contribution to GDP—currently underreported—will rise through enhanced formalization, employment, and regulatory compliance across sectors.

Ghana’s current system admits only about 28–29percent of LLB graduates into professional legal training each year. This bottleneck, enforced by the Ghana School of Law’s monopoly, has long been criticized as exclusionary.

In contrast, countries like Nigeria recorded an 84percent bar pass rate in April 2025. Kenya’s pass rate remains low at 18–22percent, though some universities such as Mount Kenya University report success rates as high as 96percent. In the U.S., between 80–90percent of law graduates eventually pass the bar, and in the U.K., the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) records pass rates of 50–60percent for the first stage and 61percent for the second. Ghana’s access rate is among the most restrictive in Africa and significantly below international benchmarks.

The Legal Education Reform Bill offers a bold solution. It proposes to decentralize professional legal training by authorizing accredited public and private universities—such as the University of Ghana, KNUST, GIMPA, and others—to offer bar-track programs under the regulation of the General Legal Council.

The current single annual bar exam will be replaced with a biannual examination, offering more opportunities for qualified graduates to progress. Importantly, these changes will not compromise quality. The bill mandates strong quality assurance mechanisms, including institutional accreditation, regular audits, and centralized exams to ensure consistency and integrity across training institutions.

What sets this reform apart is its strong alignment with international best practices. The U.S. model allows law graduates to take multiple bar sittings across jurisdictions. The U.K.’s SQE ensures standardized assessment across institutions. The reform bill also emphasizes practical legal education—integrating skills like courtroom advocacy, legal drafting, and dispute resolution into university curricula. Such training is now standard in U.S. and U.K. law schools and is essential for preparing law graduates for the complexities of modern legal practice.

Comparative Analysis:

Beyond the legal profession itself, the ripple effects of this reform will be felt across the nation. More accessible legal education creates a more inclusive and representative legal system, allowing for better advocacy in communities that are often underserved. Stronger legal capacity supports state institutions in managing land disputes, criminal justice, family law, and administrative cases—reducing the burden on an already overstretched judiciary.

Economically, the reform supports Ghana’s goal of becoming a legal services and arbitration hub in West Africa. As legal training becomes more rigorous and widespread, Ghana can attract international partnerships, law firms, and arbitration bodies. These institutions generate high-value jobs, support governance, and raise service sector productivity. Legal reform is thus not a standalone development goal—it is an enabler of constitutional governance, economic transformation, and public trust.

With both major political parties backing the bill and broad public support growing, the Legal Education Reform Bill represents more than just an institutional shake-up. It reflects a national aspiration for fairness, meritocracy, and excellence. Implementation, however, must be strategic. Many universities lack the infrastructure for high-quality legal clinics, while regulatory collaboration between the General Legal Council and the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission must be refined to avoid overlap. A phased rollout with pilot programs, performance tracking, and investment in digital legal education tools will be key to ensuring success.

Ghana now stands at a decisive moment in legal education history. After decades of debate, protest, and advocacy, the barriers at Makola may finally fall. This reform is not about lowering standards—it is about raising the bar. With deliberate implementation and sustained political will, Ghana can redefine legal education, empower its next generation of lawyers, and build a justice system that is fair, accessible, and globally respected.

>>>the writer is a Policy Analyst