By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), Sept. 16, GNA – Dr. Dominic Ayini, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, says his outfit has initiated a process to reform Ghana’s legal education to ensure equal access and quality of legal training in the country.
He said a bill, which would, among other things, introduce a one-year law practice course for Bachelor of Laws graduate from accredited universities would soon be submitted to Cabinet for consideration.
“The law practice course will focus exclusively on the subjects that are practical in nature – civil procedure, criminal procedure, advocacy and legal ethics, and the law of evidence”, he explained.
Dr. Ayini, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga East in the Upper East Region, announced this in Wa during the opening of the 2025/2026 Annual General Conference of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).
The conference was on the theme: “Sustaining the 4th Republican Constitutional Democracy; The Role of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession”.
It brought together seasoned and budding legal practitioners to deliberate on critical matters, including sustaining and consolidating Ghana’s democratic governance.
Dr. Ayini stated that the rapid expansion of legal education in Ghana created both opportunities and burdens, including an uneven quality of training, inadequate mentorship, and limited opportunities for practice.
He said those challenges had necessitated the need to re-examine the approach to legal education in the country to be addressed.
The Minister also criticized the GBA for raising concerns about the process of the removal of Her Ladyship Gertrude Araba Sackey Esaaba Torkornoo, a former Chief Justice, from office.
He said the Bar failed to speak out about the process in relation to an Article 146 petition in 2015 in relation to a former Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice.
He added that in 2017, an Article 146 petition was also filed for the removal of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, and her deputies from office but the Bar was also silent on the process.
Dr. Ayini, therefore, questioned the basis on which the Bar was concerned about the process of the removal of Justice Torkornoo.
He said: “…the Bar as a professional group has lacked consistency, bringing into question its adherence to principle.”
Ms Barbara Mills, the President of the Bar Council of England and Wales, reiterated the critical role of the Judiciary in sustaining constitutional democracy.
She said the Judiciary had the responsibility of interpreting the constitution, vindicating human rights and civil liberties, protecting the integrity of electoral processes and ensuring access to justice for all, including the marginalised groups.
“It is accordingly critical that the Judiciary be, and be seen to be, independent and impartial”, she said, and added that perceptions of bias or politicisation diminish public trust in the courts.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/George-Ramsey Benamba