In an interim policy directive issued to law deans on June 12, 2026, Professor Raymond A. Atuguba, Director of Legal Education and the Ghana School of Law, detailed transitional measures—highlighted by a new one-year “Pre-Bar Course” starting in August or September 2026—designed to bridge the gap before the new Council for Legal Education and Training (CLET) is fully operational.
The reforms aim to clear a massive backlog of thousands of Bachelor of Laws (LLB) graduates currently locked out of professional training.
The restructuring addresses a severe institutional bottleneck.
Under the previous regime, up to 4,000 LLB graduates sat for the entrance exam annually, but only a small fraction gained entry to the Ghana School of Law.
This imbalance created what the directive described as “a significant accumulation of backlog students of approximately 5,000 to 8,000 students.”
With the repeal of older regulations, the entrance examination framework is entirely dismantled, meaning “admission into the new professional legal training framework may not be made contingent upon any entrance examination conducted by the IEC.”
To manage the transition for both current graduates and the existing backlog, the directive introduces a one-year “Pre-Bar Course” starting in August or September 2026.
This course will cover foundational theoretical subjects—including Company Law, Commercial Law, and Alternative Dispute Resolution—that were previously taught at the Ghana School of Law but are missing from standard LLB curricula.
GTEC-accredited law faculties can run this program independently, partner with the Ghana School of Law, or offload students to the school entirely.
Upon completing the Pre-Bar requirements, students will advance to the practical Law Practice Training (LPT) Programme, which will eventually be hosted independently by accredited universities starting in the 2027/2028 academic year.
The directive urges law faculties to immediately conduct gap analyses, upgrade infrastructure, and prepare for the upcoming accreditation process opening in October 2026.
According to Professor Atuguba, these temporary measures are vital “to ensure an orderly and effective transition to the new legal education regime, especially for students graduating with an LLB this year, while simultaneously addressing the long-standing backlog of LLB graduates in Ghana.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
