President Mahama signs Legal Education Reform Bill into law

President John Dramani Mahama has officially signed the Legal Education Reform Bill (2025) into law, bringing the long-awaited relief to thousands of aspiring lawyers across Ghana.

The new law effectively ends the 66-year exclusive control that the Ghana School of Law has held over professional legal education in the country.

Going forward, accredited universities will now be allowed to offer professional law programmes, opening up more opportunities for students who complete their first degrees in law.

Parliament-passes-Legal-Education-Bill-2025-2027554”>Parliament passes Legal Education Bill 2025

For decades, the Ghana School of Law, which was established in 1958, was the only institution permitted to run the professional course required for students to be called to the Ghana Bar.

This created a serious bottleneck as every year, hundreds of qualified law graduates find themselves unable to secure admission, despite meeting all the academic requirements.

Many legal educators, students, and reform campaigners had persistently called for reforms, arguing that the old system placed unnecessary barriers on young people who aspired to be lawyers.

With the signing of this bill, the door has finally been opened for more universities to train the next generation of legal professionals.

This is expected to significantly expand access to legal education, reduce the backlog of qualified graduates, and ultimately strengthen the legal profession in Ghana.

Speaking at the signing ceremony on Monday, May 11 2026, President John Dramani Mahama said the legislation seeks to strike a balance between quality legal education and greater opportunities for aspiring lawyers across the country.

"Regulate legal education and ensure the highest standards in terms of legal education, but also to open up a space for more opportunities for legal education in Ghana," he said.

"This particular act has been one that many aspiring lawyers have been looking up to. So it'll be fine," he added.

For decades, the Ghana School of Law has remained the only institution authorised to provide the professional law course required for admission to the Ghana Bar.

Since its establishment in 1958, the system has faced growing criticism from students, academics and legal professionals who argued that access to professional legal training had become too limited.

Every year, hundreds of qualified law graduates are unable to gain admission, despite successfully completing their university education.

Many saw the arrangement as a major bottleneck that prevented talented students from progressing into the legal profession.

The newly signed legislation is therefore being viewed by many as a long-awaited reform that could ease pressure on the system and create more pathways for legal training in Ghana.

NA/VPO