The Supreme Court of Ghana has given a go ahead to the General Legal Council for the organisation to conduct its annual Law School entrance exam this year. The ruling was passed after the court reviewed a filed injunction by a Ghanaian lawyer based in the United States, Prof. Stephen Kwaku-Asare.
The injunction filed stated that the the General Legal council were in a contempt of court, having failed to meet an order of the court which held that the entrance examination and interviews organised as prerequisites for admission into the Ghana School of Law, are unconstitutional.
The jury panel which was made of Justices Anin Yeboah,Yaw Apau, Julius Ansah, Alfred Benin and Jones Dotse all ruled that the law which was being held into and in force was the Legislative Instrument (LI) passed in March 2018 by Parliament.
The injunction held that the said Law had become ineffective, or had elapsed in December last year and that the GLC was holding on to Parliament’s Legislative Instrument which it had received on the 15th of March, 2018.
Kofi Bentil, the lead counsel of Prof. Asare, urged the court on Thursday during the hearing to exercise its authority by putting the exam on hold. But unfortunately, the court found the plea by Prof. Asare as “defective”.
Speaking for the defense, Kizito Benyou, argued that the it was absolutely impossible for all students who had qualified to be admitted into the Law School, looking at the numbers. He explained that the exam was a necessary requirement. It is what a layman would call a control measure. He elaborated on the fact the GLC are into discussions with universities to see how they can begin to administer the professional course.
The court ruled in favour of the GLC, but still 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.
It isn’t that the judges aren’t concerned about the number of people who fail the exam every year. One judge, Justice Dotse stated that“It will be a joy to have the frontiers expanded but we must ensure that standards are maintained.”
