The University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS) School of Law has been approved by the General Legal Council (GLC) to run the one-year pre-bar course under Ghana’s legal education reforms.

The approval would enable the university to prepare Bachelor of Laws (LLB) graduates for admission into the Professional Law Courses.

Professor Emmanuel Derbile, the Vice-Chancellor of UBIDS, announced this in Wa at the weekend during the second graduation ceremony of the UBIDS School of Law and special graduation of the university’s School of Graduate Studies.

He described the programme as an important pathway towards passing the national bar examinations and encouraged both UBIDS law graduates and graduates from other accredited law schools to take advantage of the opportunity.

He commended the President John Dramani Mahama-led government for the legal education reforms and the inclusion of UBIDS School of Law among the permitted institutions to run the pre-bar course.

“Today is also historic in the sense that our LLB graduates on this occasion can look forward to enrolling for the Professional Law course here at UBIDS.

We are preparing to take advantage of the legal education reforms introduced by government to prepare our students adequately for professional legal training”, Prof Derbile explained.

A total of 70 students, comprising 61 males and nine females, graduated from the School of Law this year, bringing the cumulative number of LLB graduates produced by the University to 133 after the first cohort of 63 graduates last year.

He commended the maiden batch of the university’s law graduates for their performance in the Ghana School of Law entrance examinations.

Out of 42 graduates of the UBIDS’ School of Law who sat for the bar examination last year, 28 passed and were currently undertaking Part One of the Professional Law Training Course.

The ceremony also saw 298 post-graduate students, comprising eight Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students and 290 Masters’ students graduating.

He appealed to the government to prioritise infrastructure development at UBIDS to address infrastructure challenges, including lecture halls and students’ accommodation.

Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor, Chairman of the Governing Council of UBIDS, called for sustained investment in higher education to accelerate national development.

He said legal education and graduate research remained critical pillars for strengthening justice, good governance, innovation and solutions to Ghana’s development challenges.

Mr Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, indicated that UBIDS had become a strategic institution for national development through its contributions to research, innovation and community transformation.

He called for stronger collaboration between industry and public institutions to ensure that research findings informed national policy and development planning.

Mr Thaddeus Sory, a private legal practitioner, urged the students to embrace lifelong learning, pursue excellence and use their legal education to make meaningful contributions to society.

In his valedictory speech, Mr Roger Zolko-Ere appealed to senior legal practitioners to mentor young graduates as they prepare to join the Bar, as it would shape them into competent and ethical lawyers.