Campaign for legal reform disappointed in NPP manifesto promise
Law students, pushing for legal education reform, say they find the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) manifesto disappointing.
The NPP has promised to expand infrastructure to increase access to professional legal education.
But the National Association of Law Students (NALS) has says their problems need short-term measures which the construction of school buildings cannot immediately address.
What can resolve the backlog more immediately is a change in policy and laws, the NALS says.
The students say there is an increasing backlog of students unable to gain admission into a professional law course because of policy bottlenecks.
It is only the Ghana School of Law that is accredited to run the professional course, creating an academic stampede in trying to gain admission.
The GSL maintain it has limited spaces and, therefore, cannot admit more students.
But the NALS wants the government to accredit other law faculties to also run the professional law course, decentralising legal education to churn out more lawyers.
The law students said they are disappointed that after several discussions with the top echelons of government, the NPP would come out with a “very weak” promise that is not reflective of developments, very awkward, misleading, retrogressive.”
It said the NPP promise gives a “cause to be very worried than excited.”
Assessing the manifesto of the NPP’s rival, the National Association of Law Students say their recommendation finds expression in the NDC promise on legal education reform.
The NDC has promised to:
“a. vigorously reform and expand access to professional legal education and provide opportunities to all qualified LLB holders by granting accreditation to certified law faculties to undertake the professional law qualification course
b. review the Legal Profession Act in consultation with stakeholders, and establish a Council for legal education and training, to accredit certified law faculties to run the Professional Law Course subject to the oversight supervision of the Council
c. establish a faculty of law in the Northern Region to serve the northern sector”
The NALS said while it concedes that “talk is cheap”, it notes that under the NDC it accredited more law faculties. The Ghana School of Law also created two more campuses-the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.
NALS said it “recognize NDC promise is a strong, and believable promise.”
The association wants the NPP government to reconsider its handling of the legal education reform and stick to implementing assurances it gave to the students.
It said the “entire rank and file will advise ourselves about the NPP” if the government persists in what they see as a lethargic approach to the “short-term solution of legislation, which if passed, eradicates the same issues within the short-time.”
The NALS said it stands at the crossroads of an NPP promise of ‘hope in the future’ and an NDC manifesto of ‘certainty now’.
READ FULL STATEMENT BY THE NALS