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RETHINKING LEGAL EDUCATION IN GHANA: IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE LAW

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  INTRODUCTION Legal education in Ghana stands at the crossroads of significant reform. For decades, aspiring lawyers have navigated a two-stage process: first, an academic LLB degree obtained at a university, followed by a competitive entrance examination into the Ghana School of Law (Makola) for professional training. This system has produced countless lawyers, yet it has also faced persistent criticism for its bottlenecks, exclusivity, and opacity. The ongoing reforms — which propose removing the General Legal Council’s (GLC) direct role in training and introducing a centralized bar examination — are therefore a welcome development. They promise broader access, greater transparency, and alignment with professional qualification models such as ACIB, ACCA, or CIMA. In an earlier article,  “ The Law, Common Sense and Wisdom,”  published in the  Business & Financial Times  on 18th November 2023,  I reflected on  Justice Senyo Dzamefe (JSC)’s  o...
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RETHINKING THE CYBERSECURITY AMENDMENT BILL: INTEGRATION AND COLLABORATION, NOT DUPLICATION

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  INTRODUCTION As Ghana moves to update its digital governance through the Cybersecurity (Amendment) Bill, 2025 , it is crucial to ask whether the proposed reforms solve a real gap — or simply create legal clutter. While the bill aims to strengthen cybersecurity regulation, it does so by expanding the powers of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) in ways that risk undermining the coherence of our criminal justice system. The proposed amendments would give the CSA powers to investigate, arrest, and even prosecute cybercrime — roles traditionally handled by the Ghana Police Service and the Office of the Attorney-General. These new mandates not only replicate existing functions but blur institutional boundaries that exist for good reason:  accountability, oversight, and separation of powers. More fundamentally, the bill reflects a troubling trend: the assumption that every digitally mediated harm must be treated as a new, standalone offence. This is legally unnecessary. Cri...
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ETHICS, INTEGRITY & LAWYERING: CONFRONTING IMPUNITY, ADVANCING JUSTICE FOR SOCIETY

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  In Ghana’s fight against corruption and environmental destruction, the conscience of the legal profession is on trial. Ghana is at a crossroads. INTRODUCTION Corruption continues to deplete public resources. Illegal mining is devastating river bodies, farmlands, and ecosystems—placing food security in serious jeopardy. These acts are not accidental; they are deliberate, profit-driven crimes committed by a few individuals at the expense of the entire nation. Yet, there is a deeper issue compounding this crisis: the legal defence of the indefensible. In many of these cases, those involved in grand corruption or illegal mining are represented by lawyers. While the law grants every accused person the right to legal representation and the presumption of innocence, this legal shield has too often become a tool for enabling impunity. There exists a moral tension we can no longer afford to ignore. THE ROLE OF THE LAWYER: LEGAL TECHNICIAN OR CITIZEN? Under Ghanaian law, lawyers...
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