In the midst of a growing debate for an expansion and changes in Ghana’s legal education system, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, has stated emphatically that practicing law is a privilege, and not a right.
He said this during the induction ceremony of new executives of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) earlier this week.
Mr. Dame was also not enthused about the disregard of ethical standards in the legal profession.
He believes “it is only when practitioners maintain the highest standards of ethical standards that the law will continue to be a noble profession”.
Mr. Dame thus admonished the new executives of the GBA to stem the tide by constantly upholding moral standards and ethics.
The Attorney General’s comments come on the back of challenges LLB graduates face while trying to access professional legal training at the Ghana School of Law.
Some 149 LLB graduates who participated in the recently held law school entrance exam have dragged the General Legal Council and the Attorney General to court, insisting that they passed but were deliberately denied admission.
Although Parliament stepped in and directed the Attorney General to liaise with the General Legal Council to ensure that the entire 499 students are admitted, Mr. Dame insisted that the law-making body was going beyond its boundaries.
