President John Dramani Mahama has signed the Legal Education Reform Bill, 2025, into law, officially ending the 66-year-old Ghana School of Law monopoly over professional legal education in the country.
The new law, signed on Monday, May 11, 2026, allows accredited universities to offer professional law programs, a major shift from the previous system where only the Ghana School of Law could train LLB graduates to become professional lawyers.
For years, legal educators, students, and reform advocates argued that the old arrangement created unnecessary barriers to entering the legal profession and limited access to legal education in Ghana.
Speaking on the development, Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor said the new law introduces broader access to legal education and removes the exclusive control previously held by the Ghana School of Law.
According to him, “there is nothing like Makola,” explaining that under the new legal framework, the Ghana School of Law itself would also have to go through accreditation like every other institution seeking to offer professional legal training.
He explained that the reform ensures fairness and expands opportunities for qualified LLB holders across the country.
“What the law is introducing is wider access; only the Ghana School of Law has the monopoly to admit, as it were, LLB holders to train as professional lawyers. Under the new dispensation, it is no longer the case,” he stated.
He further noted that the Ghana School of Law would now be assessed and accredited alongside other institutions training law students in the country.
The passage of the Legal Education Reform Bill is expected to significantly increase access to professional legal education and reduce the pressure on the Ghana School of Law, which for decades served as the sole pathway for professional legal training in Ghana.
