Ghana Moves to Abolish Makola Law School Monopoly: Attorney-General Proposes National Bar Exam in Groundbreaking Legal Reform

Accra, Ghana — In a landmark announcement poised to reshape the landscape of legal education in Ghana, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has unveiled a sweeping reform bill that proposes to abolish the centralized admissions system of the Ghana School of Law, known informally as “Makola.” The plan introduces a new era of decentralized practical legal training followed by a National Bar Examination a move legal experts say could mark the most significant structural change in Ghana’s legal profession in decades.

Addressing the media in Accra on Monday, July 28, 2025, Dr. Ayine disclosed that the final draft of a new Legal Education Bill has been completed and is scheduled for Cabinet review in August. The proposed legislation, if passed, would transfer the responsibility for professional legal training from the Ghana School of Law to all accredited universities running the LLB programme.

“The bill will abolish the Ghana School of Law system,” Dr. Ayine stated. “Universities will be allowed to provide practical legal education internally, and successful students will write a national bar exam, just like what is done by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.”

Under the new model, LLB graduates will undergo a one-year Bar Practice Programme at the same university where they earned their degree. Upon completion of this university-led practical training, students will sit for a standardized National Bar Examination, the results of which will determine eligibility for admission to the Bar.

This reform, according to the Attorney-General, is aimed at dismantling long-standing barriers that have hindered access to legal practice in the country. For years, Ghana’s centralized legal training model has faced mounting criticism for its restrictive admissions policy, leaving thousands of LLB graduates in limbo with no access to the professional phase of legal training.

“We are shifting from exclusion to inclusion,” Dr. Ayine explained. “Our aim is to ensure that all qualified LLB holders have a clear and merit-based path to becoming lawyers.”

The current bottleneck has not only strained public confidence in the fairness of legal education but also sparked widespread debate on the equity and sustainability of the profession’s entry point. Critics have long argued that the Ghana School of Law’s annual intake falls far short of demand, resulting in an oversupply of law graduates with no access to practice.

The proposed reforms seek to address these challenges by decentralizing training and introducing a national qualifying mechanism. The standardized Bar Exam, modeled similarly to that of professional accounting certifications, will offer a uniform benchmark for assessing legal competence across institutions.

In response to concerns about equity between public and private universities, Dr. Ayine was clear: the new model opens access to legal training but does not obligate government financial support for private institutions.

“Government funding for private universities is a privilege, not a right,” he said. “We are already stretched supporting public institutions.”

The reform aligns with global trends in legal education, where jurisdictions are moving toward flexible, competency-based professional training. Analysts believe the introduction of a National Bar Exam could not only democratize access to the legal profession in Ghana but also enhance the country’s legal competitiveness across the African continent.

While the announcement has drawn praise from reform advocates and aspiring lawyers, it also raises critical questions about implementation especially regarding standardization, institutional capacity, and quality assurance across universities.

For now, the legal fraternity awaits the Cabinet’s decision on the bill, which could usher in a new chapter in Ghana’s legal history.

Legal Africa will continue to monitor the progress of the bill and its implications for legal education and practice in Ghana and beyond.

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