The former President of the Ghana Bar Association, Sam Okudzeto, has criticised Parliament’s handling of the Legal Education Bill, 2025, arguing that the legal profession was left out of a major reform process that directly affects its future.
Parliament passed the Legal Education Bill, 2025 last week, introducing significant changes to Ghana’s legal training system.
The new law ends the long-standing monopoly of the Ghana School of Law and opens the door for accredited universities to provide professional legal education.
It also creates a new Council for Legal Education and Training to regulate the system and supervise a national bar examination framework.
“The GBA was not involved at all”
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, Okudzeto said the process should have involved the Ghana Bar Association from the outset.
“I had one complaint in the first place when this bill was proposed, the Ghana Bar Association was not involved at all, which I thought was rather strange.” - Sam Okudzeto
He argued that reforms of this scale require the views of practising lawyers and the body that officially represents them.
“One would have thought that this matter should have been referred to the GBA for their input, because they are the members of the profession.” - Sam Okudzeto
Nationwide body, national implications
Okudzeto stressed that the GBA is not a narrow interest group confined to Accra or Kumasi, but a national professional body with representation across all regions.
He noted that its governing council includes regional presidents and secretaries from around the country, making it well positioned to contribute meaningfully to policy discussions on legal education.
“It’s a body that is not Accra or Kumasi matter, it’s nationwide.” - Sam Okudzeto
He said the Association had sought an opportunity to engage Parliament but was not granted one before the bill was passed.
Call for broader professional consultation
According to Okudzeto, the legal fraternity only became aware that the legislation had been approved after the process had already concluded.
“We now heard that the law had been passed, so that’s a serious matter.” - Sam Okudzeto
He maintained that Parliament has a broader responsibility to involve recognised professional bodies when legislating on matters that directly affect their sectors.
“When we are talking about a profession, it means that anytime Parliament is confronted with an issue relating to a profession, Parliament should get the professional body to be involved.” - Sam Okudzeto
His remarks are likely to fuel debate over whether the implementation of the new law will proceed smoothly without wider consensus from the legal community.
READ ALSO: OmniBSIC Bank Ghana Records GH¢641 million Profit in 2025
