The General Legal Council (GLC) has agreed to admit the 499 law students who were denied entry into the Ghana School of Law (GSL).
Lawyer for the students Mr Martin Kpebu revealed this on Wednesday after a meeting between the representatives of the aggrieved students and their lawyer, representatives from the GLC and the Attorney-General (AG).
He said even though the GLC has agreed to admit the students, they are yet to be informed about the start date for their admission into the GSL.
Speaking to journalists after the marathon meeting, Mr Kpebu explained that the admission will be “subject to some modalities as to when these students will commence the course.”
He added that, “The subcommittee of the GLC that we met this evening will go back and report on the contents of these deliberations we have had.”
The students had withdrawn their lawsuit against the AG and the GLC prior to this meeting.
A-G’s advice
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame had on November 11, 2021, advised the General Legal Council (GLC) to admit the 499 students who were denied entry into the GSL.
He implored that the students be admitted to the GSL this November or in May 2022.
The AG also recommended that the GLC ensure that both sets of students are called to the bar in the next two years.
The 499 students were refused admission despite scoring 50 per cent of the overall mark, which is the required pass mark.
The National Association of Law Students (NALS) presented a petition to the President and the legislature on the matter.
The petition to the legislature, among other things, pleaded with parliament to intervene and ask the General Legal Council and the management of the law school to immediately reverse the decision and admit the students.
On Friday, 29 October 2021, parliament unanimously voted in support of a motion filed by Majority Chief Whip Alexander Afenyo-Markin to compel the GLC to admit all students who had passed the entrance exam per the advertised rules of the examination.
The Minority Chief Whip, Mr Muntaka Mubarak, seconded the motion.
Following the resounding vote in support of the motion, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, directed the GLC to “proceed and admit all the students who passed in accordance with the advertised rules of the examination.”
However, responding to parliament’s directive, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, in a statement, disagreed with directing, saying, “While recognising the general legislative powers of parliament in Ghana, except as have been circumscribed by the constitution, I am constrained to advise that parliament is devoid of power through the use of Parliamentary resolution, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law. The mode of exercising legislative power enshrined in article 106 of the constitution does not admit of resolutions.
“In accordance with section 13(1)(e) and (f) of the Legal Professional Act, 1960 (Act 32), the power to regulate the admission of students to pursue courses of instruction leading to qualification as lawyers and to hold examinations which may include preliminary, intermediate and final examinations has been vested in the General Legal Council”.
According to the AG, it is rather the executive that has the right to direct the GLC to admit the 499 applicants and not the legislature.
The minority in Parliament therefore made attempts to pass a censure vote on the AG for failure to admit the students as directed by the Legislature.
They were reported to have gathered signatures enough to begin the process.
A vote of censure, is a vote of no confidence in the AG.
This will result in the successful removal of the AG from office.
