A member of the Council of State is opposed to the decision to eliminate interviews as part of the admission processes to the Ghana School of law.

Samuel Awuku Okudzeto said the move will only worsen the quality of lawyers produced by the Law School.

Speaking to Raymond Acquah on JOYNEWS' current affairs programme Upfront on Thursday, the former General Legal Council (GLC) member said, “I still think it is wrong [to cancel the interview session].

"There are some people who may be good at writing when in fact they cannot articulate.”

According to him, the law practice requires articulation but limiting it to only the exam will not provide a sifting system to know who is interested in what.

The GLC's Legislative Instrument (LI) before Parliament has spawned a fresh debate about legal education, with some lawmakers and critics mobilising support to prevent it from being passed.

The entrance examination and interview as admission requirements at the Law School were introduced in 2012 but the Supreme Court in 2017 held they were illegal.

The two are not in the Professional Law Course Regulations 1984 (LI 1296) that regulates law education in Ghana, the apex court said and directed the GLC to take steps to legalise the process.

But the LI has faced stiff opposition from some lawmakers, sections of Ghanaians and potential students who said the arrangement was not in the interest of the country.

Starting 2018, however, LLB students who apply to the School of Law will only be required to sit an entrance examination after which the qualified candidates will be admitted.

This follows an agreement between the GLC and Parliament's Subsidiary Legislation Committee to eliminate the interview session.

But the former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) argues that the interview session will give the GLC the opportunity to ask the applicant what area of law they intend pursuing.

Regarding whether the decision will affect legal education in the country he said, “they may need to sit down again and relook at the whole thing again; perhaps even appoint a commission of enquiry.” 

Watch the interview: