The Chief Justice, His Lordship Paul Baffoe Bonnie has recently called on the administrator of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Mr. Paul Adjei in a historic visit to solicit support for critical infrastructure and resources needed to implement transformative reforms in Ghana’s legal education system.
The Chief Justice disclosed that the judicial sector reforms will fundamentally restructure legal education delivery in Ghana, with accredited law faculties providing professional practice training following LLB completion.” It will allow students sit for unified bar examination computerized testing centers, similar to international models in New York and Singapore.”
Stating the need for infrastructure injection in the legal profession, he pointed that, “the General Legal Council Bill currently before Parliament will establish new accreditation standards, an inspectorate system, and an appeal tribunal to ensure equality in legal education.”
He further highlighted that the reforms are crucial for modernizing Ghana’s legal education system, which currently operates in old facilities designed over the years to accommodate just about 80 students, but currently serves thousands of students.
Responding to the Chief Justice, Mr. Paul Adjei, outlined a series of strategic initiatives aimed at supporting the development of judicial service infrastructure and enhancing student opportunities by GETFund. According to him, GETFund will in the future introduce dedicated budget lines to support the provision of judicial infrastructure in the country.
Mr. Paul Adjei also disclosed that GETFund will capitalize on its established partnerships with prestigious institutions such as Temple University, John Hopkins and several other universities in the United Kingdom to offer scholarships and tuition discounts for Ghanaian law students pursuing advanced studies abroad.
He added that GETFund has launched a dedicated fundraising department to mobilize resources from corporate entities and individual philanthropists to augment government’s commitment to education in line with His Excellency President Mahama’s vision.
A key innovation in this effort, according to him is an agreement with Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), which allows companies investing in GETFund fundraising initiatives to claim these contributions as tax deductions.
The GETFund Administrator also commended the Chief Justice for his proactive leadership in engaging development partners to secure vital support for these reforms, nothing, “The Chief Justice’s commitment to transforming the judicial sector aligns perfectly with GETFund’s mandate to support tertiary education and professional development in Ghana.”
He reiterated that the partnership between GETFund and the judicial service is expected to give a facelift to legal education across the country.
His Lordship the Chief Justice was accompanied by Prof. Raymond Atuguba, Director of the Ghana school of Law, and Mr. Musah Ahmed Esq. The Judicial Secretary.