We need policy reforms not infrastructure - Law students to govt

Students at the Ghana School of Law are demanding urgent reforms in the country’s legal education system to allow more access.

The students have rejected government's proposal to expand infrastructure in order to increase access

The vice-president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said during the NPP’s manifesto launch that the government intends to expand the infrastructure needs of the Law School in order to have more people gain access to legal education.

But speaking to Starr News, president-elect of the Ghana School of Law Philemon Larh called for legal reforms instead of new buildings.

He said “it’s welcoming news that the government has a long-term plan for reforms in legal education. I say this because the issues of legal education in its country are imminent, it's a time bomb. Over 2,700 students went to write exams today and I doubt more than 50% of them would have entered into the Ghana School of Law.”

“The issues of legal education in this country need policy reforms and not infrastructure. The imminent need for reforms in this country’s legal education is policy.”

“He explained that the legal profession act, act 32 gives the Attorney-General the power to give general policy directions to the general legal counsel to institute reforms.”

“You will realize that when the agitations happened last year for reforms in legal education, the deputy attorney-general indicated that the government had made efforts at getting the UPSA to accommodate about 1,000 students. UCC is also on record to have said they have space for students,” he added.

Mr Larh insisted that the issue of infrastructure is not imminent, “What is imminent now are the issues of reforms. At the Ghana School of Law, for example, we have a backlog, people, as far back as 2014 who entered the school and cannot get out. So, we want a system that will allow people who will enter the Ghana School of Law to be able to get out,” he noted.