The Supreme Court has given the General Legal Council the green light to organise entrance examination for admission into the Ghana School of Law.
This follows the dismissal of an application for an injunction filed by U.S-based Ghanaian lawyer, Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare.
The five-member panel comprising Justices Julius Ansah, Jones Dotse, Anin Yeboah, Alfred Benin and Yaw Apau in a unanimous decision held that, the Legislative Instrument (LI) passed by Parliament in March 2018, is the law in force and therefore must be adhered to.
Read: Supreme Court throws out injunction to stop Law School entrance exams
Prof Asare in June this year dragged the General Legal Council (GLC) to the apex court alleging they are in contempt of court for failing to obey an earlier order of the court which held that the entrance examination and interviews organised as requirements for admission into the Ghana School of Law, is unconstitutional.
The Court further ordered that the law backing whatever mode of admission they intend to rely on for the year 2018, is put in place within six months of the ruling.
Prof. Asare contends this was to elapse on December 22, 2017 but the GLC only got Parliament to pass a Legislative Instrument on March 15, 2018.
The court last week struck out the application describing it as defective. Prof Asare subsequently instructed his lawyers to file a fresh writ after curing the defects.
His lead counsel, Kofi Bentil on Thursday urged the court to show its authority by placing an injunction on the exam.
He argued that allowing the exam to take place will mean some individuals and institutions are beyond the powers of the court.
But the GLC’s counsel, Kizito Benyou urged the court to dismiss the application.
He argued that it was simply impossible for all qualified students to be admitted if the exam is called off.
He further explained they are in touch with various universities to ensure that they make room to administer the professional course.
Read: Prof. Asare ‘fights’ Supreme Court over injunction suit on law school exams
This he maintained, should be done progressively, urging that the GLC must proceed a step at a time.
The five-member panel in a unanimous decision held that no alternative arrangements are in place to ensure students receive instructions if the injunction is granted.
The court further held that the GLC stands to suffer more since it had long planned and advertised for the exam which is set to come off on July 27.
A member of the Panel Justice Dotse was concerned about how opening up the law school could compromise quality.
He said: “It will be a joy to have the frontiers expanded but we must ensure that standards are maintained.”
Source: myjoyonline.com
