Ghana’s Parliament has passed the Legal Education Bill, 2025, introducing sweeping reforms to the country’s legal training system and ending the long-standing monopoly of the Ghana School of Law.
The legislation, now awaiting presidential assent, allows accredited universities to offer professional legal training. It also establishes a Council for Legal Education and Training to regulate the sector and standardize curricula nationwide. Under the new system, institutions will run the Law Practice Training Course, with graduates required to pass a National Bar Examination.
Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga described the bill’s passage as a fulfillment of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s commitment to expanding access and ensuring fairness in legal education.
However, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin called on the government to deliver on other key campaign promises, noting that while the reform is significant, more remains to be done.
The new law marks a major decentralization of legal education in Ghana, broadening opportunities for aspiring lawyers beyond the traditional system.