The government has announced temporary measures as Ghana transitions into its new legal education system. The system is set to give more potential lawyers an opportunity to pursue the profession after long wait for professional legal training.

The transitional directives under Ghana’s new Legal Education Act, 2026 (Act 1170) were released on 12 June 2026 through a formal circular signed by Professor Raymond Atuguba, Director of Legal Education and Director of the Ghana School of Law. He issued them on behalf of the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, acting under the authority of the General Legal Council.

“As you are well aware, the Legal Education Act, 2026 (Act 1170), has been passed by Parliament, assented to by the President, and gazetted. However, the new Council for Legal Education and Training (CLET), established under the Act, is yet to be constituted. This letter serves as a set of Interim Policy Directives covering some very urgent matters,” parts of the circular read.

Why the temporary transition measures

Explaining the rationale behind the policy directives, Professor Atuguba noted,

“I am happy to note that the Policy Directives are substantially aligned with the recommendations made by the Conference of Law Deans at its emergency meeting on the impending reforms held on the 13th of May 2026”.

The reforms come to remove the autonomy of the Ghana School of Law (Makola) and to expand access to professional training after the passage of the law that decentralizes professional legal training and allowing accredited universities to play a direct role in preparing students for legal practice.

According to authorities approximately 5,000 to 8,000 graduates remain in the backlog despite completing undergraduate studies and have been left competing for limited places through the Independent Examinations Committee (IEC) admission process for years now.

The new legal education system

Under this new system, LLB graduates will do an extra academic year to prepare and sit for a specially designed Pre-Bar Course.

The programme will cover key subjects required for legal practice, including Company Law, Commercial Law, Family Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Interpretation of Deeds and Statutes.

A successful completion of the programme guarantees a certification that will grant one the mandate to proceed to the Law Practice Training (LPT) Programme and later sit for the National Bar Examination and ultimately qualify for call to the Bar.

Not only will institutions be able to train its students for the exams but also it can admit graduates from other institutions as well as backlog students who wish to enrol in the Pre-Bar programme.

Where universities are unable to offer the transitional course, they may collaborate with the Ghana School of Law or transfer affected students to the institution.

Students graduating this year

For students graduating this year, the route to becoming a lawyer will involve completing the one-year Pre-Bar programme before advancing to the practical Law Practice Training course at institutions accredited by the Council for Legal Education and Training (CLET), once the new body is formally constituted.

The practical training component will cover Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Law of Evidence, Conveyancing and Drafting, Advocacy and Legal Ethics, as well as Law Practice Management and Legal Accounting.

The government has also directed universities to use the transition period to strengthen infrastructure, improve practical legal training capacity and review their curricula to align with the new legal education regime.

Applications for accreditation to run the Law Practice Training programme are expected to begin in October this year, with authorities targeting full implementation of the decentralised legal education system by the 2027/2028 academic year.