The House Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has recommended for adoption by MPs a remark of exam scripts of LLB holders who failed 2019 Ghana School of Law entrance exams.

The Committee presented its report to Speaker Aaron Mike Oquaye after a series of deliberations with the National Association of Law Students and the General Legal Council (GLC); regulator of legal education and legal profession in Ghana.

After hearing both sides on the petition submitted to the House by the law students over mass failures recorded in the 2019 entrance exam, the Committee is convinced the GLC should remark the scripts of the 1,692 students failed out of the 1,820 who sat for the paper.

Police arrested and shot rubber bullets at law students who protested in Accra over the mass failures 

This, they said, must be done “upon request and payment of reasonable fees.”

“In addition, the Committee is cognisant of the fact that the 2019/20 academic year for the Ghana School of Law (GSL) has already started. In that regard, the Committee recommends that, the GSL should develop a viable enrolment and a catching-up strategy to incorporate the successful candidates in the Professional Law Programme.”

The Committee further recommended that contrary to previous practice, the GLC should publish marking schemes and examiners’ report on the website of the Ghana School of Law (GSL) and make same available in the GSL library.

Addressing the consistent failures in the entrance and exit point of the Ghana School of Law and challenges in the legal education system, the Committee recommended that the Attorney General submits a bill to Parliament for a change in the law which regulates the sector.

This, they say would replace the Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill, 2018 which has been cited as a failed effort in finding solutions to the challenges.

“Not good enough”

Lawyer and economics professor, Kwaku Asare, who is a fierce critic of the country’s legal education system took to social media to condemn some of the recommendations.

“Not good enough,” he wrote.

“The solution is obvious. Let all LLB students study at institutions of their choice and be eligible to take the QCE…this is not rocket science…” he added.