President John Dramani Mahama has signed the Legal Education Reform Bill, 2025, into law, ending the 66-year monopoly of the Ghana School of Law over professional legal training and ushering in a transformative era for legal education.
The groundbreaking legislation significantly broadens access to professional legal education by authorising accredited universities across Ghana to offer professional law courses.
The reform is expected to create unprecedented opportunities for thousands of aspiring lawyers seeking admission into professional legal education programmes.
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President Mahama signed the bill at Jubilee House in the presence of senior government officials, who applauded the historic decision.
“This particular Act has been one that many aspiring lawyers have been looking forward to,” President Mahama said before appending his signature to the bill.
“It ensures the highest standards in terms of legal education, but also opens up the space for more opportunities in legal education. So let me sign it,” he added to enthusiastic applause.
The new law represents one of the most significant reforms in Ghana’s legal education system in more than six decades.
For years, the Ghana School of Law served as the principal gateway to professional legal training, a structure that many students, academics, and legal practitioners criticised as overly restrictive and inadequate to meet growing demand.
The reform dismantles this long-standing bottleneck by empowering qualified and accredited universities to deliver professional legal education while maintaining rigorous national standards.
Supporters of the legislation say the law will improve access to legal education, reduce admission constraints, and enable more law graduates to pursue their professional qualifications.
The measure is widely seen as a bold and progressive step that will strengthen Ghana’s justice system by producing a larger pool of well-trained legal professionals.
Legal analysts have welcomed the reform but emphasised that effective implementation will require robust regulatory oversight to ensure that accredited institutions maintain the high standards expected in professional legal education.
The law is expected to reshape legal training in Ghana, making the profession more accessible while preserving academic excellence and professional integrity.