By Love Wilhelmina Abanonave
Lawyer and historian Yaw Anokye Frimpong has said the title “learned” should be reserved exclusively for legal professionals, arguing that it should not be used to describe people outside the legal fraternity.
“Do not call just anyone ‘learned’. It is only restricted to legal professionals,” he said.
Speaking on the GTV Breakfast Show, he explained that the legal profession is unique because it requires continuous learning even after formal education.
He also noted that Ghana needs more lawyers relative to its population, but stressed that expansion must be carefully regulated.
“We need more lawyers based on our population, but the number will have to be regulated,” he said.
Lawyer Anokye added that even with expanded training opportunities, only a fraction of law graduates eventually enter legal practice due to the demands of the profession.
“However, no matter the numbers that come out, only a few will become practising lawyers because not all of them have the courage to stand against another lawyer,” he said.
Meanwhile, Parliament has passed the Legal Education Reform Bill, 2025, ending the Ghana School of Law’s long-standing monopoly on professional legal training and opening up the sector to accredited universities.
The new law establishes a Council for Legal Education and Training to regulate legal education and set uniform curriculum standards across institutions. Under the framework, approved universities will run a Law Practice Training Course to prepare candidates for a national bar examination.
For 66 years, the Ghana School of Law served as the sole institution mandated to provide professional legal training. The reform is expected to improve access, equity and fairness for law students, according to government officials.
