[2017]DLSC2604 • June 22, 2017 • Supreme Court •
PROFESSOR STEPHEN KWAKU ASARE vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND THE GENERAL LEGAL COUNCIL
The plaintiff challenged the General Legal Council's introduction of entrance examinations and interview requirements for admission into the Professional Law Course (PLC) at the Ghana School of Law, arguing that these requirements violated constitutional provisions and statutory regulations. The plaintiff contended that law graduates from the University of Ghana and other approved institutions were entitled to admission without additional examinations or interviews as per LI 1296 and Act 32. The defendants justified the new requirements as necessary due to a dramatic increase in law graduates seeking admission, asserting their powers under Act 32 to regulate legal education and admissions.
read moreGBADEGBE JSC:- We have before us in the exercise of the original jurisdiction a claim by which the following reliefs are sought: 1. A declaration that the General Legal Council’s imposition of an entrance examination and interview requirements for the Professional Law Course violates Articles 11(7), 297(d),23, 296(a), 296(b) and 18(2) of the 1992 Constitution. 2. A declaration that Regulation 3(b) of LI 1296 is void for vagueness and is therefore facially unconstitutional and a further declaration that the Council applied it to disqualify eligible students who had qualified under Regulation 2 of LI 1296 for admission to pursue the Professional Law Course. 3. A declaration that pursuant to Regulation 2 of LI 1296, a person is qualified for admission to pursue Professional Law Course at the Ghana School of Law or other alternative places of instruction specified by the General Legal Council if (a) he is of good behavior; (b) he has a degree conferred on him by the University.....