President Mahama signs legal education reform bill, ends Ghana school of law monopoly

President John Dramani Mahama has assented to the Legal Education Reform Bill, 2025, paving the way for accredited universities to offer professional legal training in Ghana.

The newly passed law effectively ends the long-standing exclusive authority of the Ghana School of Law to provide professional legal education required for admission to the Ghana Bar.

For more than six decades, the Ghana School of Law remained the only institution permitted to run the professional law programme, a system many stakeholders argued restricted access to legal education and limited opportunities for qualified graduates.

The reform is expected to widen access to professional legal training by allowing universities that satisfy accreditation standards set by the appropriate regulatory bodies to run the programme.

Advocates for the change have for years criticised the previous arrangement, citing the high number of law graduates who were unable to gain admission into the Ghana School of Law despite meeting academic requirements.

With the new legislation in force, legal education experts believe the country could see increased training capacity and improved access to the legal profession.