News:
January 31, 2018
Parliament will take a final decision on a petition calling for the withdrawal of the controversial Legal Profession Regulations 2017 from the House on Thursday February 1, 2018.
Association of Law Students had petitioned the President to impress on Parliament to vote against the regulation.
General Legal Council laid the Regulations in Parliament in mid-December 2017, in response to a Supreme Court order for a clear admission procedure into the Ghana School of Law, and call to the Ghana Bar.
The proposed LI in question, among other things, states that the General Legal Council will conduct an entrance exam for the admission of students to the school, and conduct interviews for all applicants who pass the Ghana School of Law Entrance Examination.
The LI is expected to become Law in February, 2018, but the law students maintained that the document when passed in its current form will only restrict access to legal education.
Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Ben Abadallah, said in an interview that Parliament will hold final deliberations on the petition on Friday.
“The committee met them on Tuesday and we have not taken any definitive decision on their petition. The Committee will meet on Thursday with the subsidiary legislative committee before we can take a definitive decision on their petition.”
He further stated that, Parliament will withdraw the regulation if the Association’s petition is supported by two thirds majority of Members of Parliament.
“It’s either to press upon the General Legal Council to withdraw the regulation failing which it is their prayer that two thirds majority of Parliament will have the regulations annulled. If by the end of the day Parliament is persuaded by their submissions contained in the petition, then we will report to the plenary to have the regulations annulled.”
By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com