Member of Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee in Ghana’s Parliament Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor said the General Legal Council (GLC) has rather succeeded in bringing roadblocks and impediments on the way of those desirous of studying law in Ghana.
The MP for South Dayi was commenting on the massive failure recorded by applicants who sat for the Ghana School of Law 2021 entrance Examination.
Per the results as released by the General Legal Council, (GLC) out of a total 2824 who sat for the exams, about 78% of applicants failed to make the mark that will qualify them to pursue their dream of becoming lawyers.
But the MP said “In our desire to make improvement in the legal education, we have rather succeeded in an imperceptible manner, to bring roadblocks and impediments on the way of persons who desire to have legal education in Ghana”.
“The situation we find ourselves in now, where restrictions are being introduced by way of entrance exams, is not about because studying law is sole preserve of the elite. Not at all. There are a lot of people who want to join the profession who are coming from not so wealthy background” he posited.
He told Noel Nutsugah, host of Statecraft on Zylofon FM that, when he left faculty of law, Legon in 2007, there was nothing like entrance exams, saying “ we only walked into Makola, there was nothing like entrance exams because the numbers were not many, there was no issue with capacity”.
For him, the situation as it is now, has to do with what he described as an inordinate penchant to allow persons from all walk of law to receive professional training in the law otherwise, asking why would GLC permit about ten universities to run LLB programmes, yet refuse to expand access to professional training?
This he said forced some to travel to other African countries and elsewhere in Europe and Americas to receive legal training.
“when people who get disappointed in entering the law school in this country, go to other African countries and elsewhere, and they are able to qualify within record time, given best student awards, then when they come back, the GLC say okay you qualified in a common law jurisdiction but you must do a year post core”
“somebody who is already a lawyer maybe in Nigeria, must go through another one year postcore, where they organize all sorts of seminars and take huge money from people, so the process has become money making venture” he elaborated.
He also cited an issue as example where the newly qualified lawyers this year have been given 3 days, which expired on Wednesday September 29, 2021, to pay GHC5000 or risk being called to the Ghana Bar.
“The 281 newly qualified lawyers this year have been given short time to pay 5000gh or will not be called to bar, I mean in which country is this done?. You release results on Sunday then give the people 3 days to raise 5ooogh, what is this?”
He therefore called on the GLC to expand the enrollment structure by liaising with other public universities in order to end the embarrassment due to massive annual failures.
