Christian Council calls for peaceful resolution of legal impasse

The Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) has called on all stakeholders in the ongoing impasse between some law students and the General Legal Council, to come together, to develop a legal educational framework that would benefit the entire country.

A statement signed by the Reverend Dr Cyril Fayose, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Monday urged all the stakeholders to detach themselves from their prejudices and find solutions to the current challenges confronting legal education in the country.

According to the CCG, it had followed with much interest, the challenges confronting legal education in the nation, and cautioned especially, the General Legal Council, that the current impasse between the student body and the General Legal Council could have serious negative impact on the future of Ghana’s legal system if not resolved quickly.

“The CCG believes that our nation needs to improve access to legal education and training in order to produce more legal practitioners for the many sectors of our economy.

“However, we need to state emphatically that as people of God, we believe in quality, integrity, excellence and professionalism and advocate that these traits should not be compromised in our legal education.

“To this end, we call on the Chief Justice of the Republic and the entire General Legal Council and the leadership of the National Association of Law Students to go back to the discourse table to try to find a lasting solution to the impasse and to restore the confidence of the general public in our legal education,” the CCG stated.

The CCG noted that the students themselves were the most important stakeholders of legal education in Ghana and so their concerns should highly be considered and not be brushed aside.

“We also appeal to the student body to use all means that are legal and appropriate to make their concerns heard."

The CCG said it was hopeful that in a very short while, the General Legal Council would propose measures that would be accepted by all, and that would improve access to quality legal education in the country.

Meanwhile, the CCG has also expressed worry over the police brutalities meted out to members of the National Association of Law Students a few weeks ago by the Ghana Police Service when they sought to present a petition to the President.

“Having followed the conversation and having watched some videos of the demonstration, it seems to the CCG that the Police Service went quite overboard in their bid to ensure security.

“We, therefore, call on the Inspector General of Police to initiate a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure that the law takes its course.”