By: My News Ghana Editorial Desk
Former Deputy AG Warns Against Sacrificing Quality for Quantity in Ghana
Accra, Ghana – As Ghana prepares for sweeping reforms in legal education, former Deputy Attorney-General and Member of Parliament, Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, has cautioned against sacrificing quality in the pursuit of expanding legal education access.
In a recent media engagement, Kpemka stressed the need to balance accessibility with academic and ethical excellence, warning that uncontrolled expansion could lead to the rise of what he described as “legal charlatans”.
“You may give people access to the law, but if they are not properly trained, you could end up creating more harm than good,” Kpemka asserted.
Key Highlights of Kpemka’s Concerns
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Quality vs. Quantity:
The former Deputy AG believes that while increasing the number of training institutions may reduce bottlenecks, it must not lower the bar for legal qualification. -
Professional Standards at Risk:
Kpemka warned that poor-quality legal training could degrade the credibility of Ghana’s legal system, stressing that producing unprepared lawyers could have long-term negative consequences. -
Need for Institutional Oversight:
He called on policymakers to ensure that institutions accredited to provide legal education are properly resourced and monitored.
Background: Reforms in Legal Education
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, recently hinted at major reforms to the current legal education framework. A proposed Legal Education Bill, expected before Cabinet soon, seeks to:
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Eliminate the Ghana School of Law’s monopoly over Bar qualification training.
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Introduce a common national bar exam.
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Allow accredited universities to independently run Bar training programmes.
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Reduce the duration of professional legal training from two years to one.
These changes are aimed at addressing the long-standing Makola bottleneck that has prevented thousands of LLB graduates from qualifying as lawyers.
Investigative Insight: Expansion Without Dilution
While the legal education reform is seen by many as a progressive step toward inclusive access, experts—including Kpemka—are urging caution. They argue that unless stringent accreditation and monitoring mechanisms are established, Ghana risks flooding the legal market with underqualified practitioners.
Quality assurance, experienced faculty, and a rigorous ethical framework must accompany any legal education expansion to safeguard the integrity of Ghana’s justice system.
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