Limited admissions to Law School, Engage to find lasting solution – Justice Tanko

Ghana Education News
Justice Issifu Omoro Amadu Tanko
Justice Issifu Omoro Amadu Tanko
Limited admissions to Law School, Engage to find lasting solution – Justice Tanko
Naa Lamiley Bentil
Education
Mar – 19 – 2023 , 15:40
A Justice of the Superior Court, Issifu Omoro Amadu Tanko, has expressed the need for heads of Law Faculties at various universities to begin serious engagements with the government through the Attorney General, the Judiciary and other key stakeholders towards finding a lasting solution to the increasing conundrum of limited admissions to professional legal education in Ghana.

“There is a contemporary issue no Chief Justice is able to resolve. We have thousands of law graduates in the pipeline who cannot access professional legal training not because they do not qualify but because we do not have the space”.

Justice Tanko, who is also the acting Director of the Judicial Training Institute, was speaking at an event organised by final year Bachelor of Laws (LLB) students of the Wisconsin International University College (WIUC).

The event was organised by the students in collaboration with the Faculty of Law and the Law Students Union (LSU) in Accra last Friday on the “The LLB Experience with His Lordship, Justice Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu.”

Justice Amadu Tanko was accompanied by Justice Kweku Ackaah-Boafo of the Court of Appeal, Justice Kenneth Kudjodjie, a Justice of the High Court, and Justice Douse, a retired Court of Appeal Judge and the Chairman of the Wisconsin University College Council.

Also in attendance were the Dean of the WIUC, Dr. Peter Wiredu, and some lecturers including Mr. Philip Glah and Mr. Kingsley Amoakwa Boadu.

“I would have thought that as law degree students, this conundrum would have been directly confronted by you urging leaders of the faculty, and management of the university to organise as many sessions as possible inviting representatives of government, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, Judiciary, heads of faculties to discuss and find the solutions to this problem. A third Chief Justice will be retiring in May and the problem is there”, he stressed.

There is a need to quickly generate a serious conversation about the issue. For as long as we are not able to absorb all of them in law school, so will the problem continue to hunt us”.

Justice Tanko noted that most LLB graduates aspire to obtain professional qualifications and work as lawyers.

He further stated that although there could be persons who may only want to obtain the LLB to learn some areas of the law and will be all right without obtaining the professional training “but for many young students, I see I will be surprised if your ambition is not to qualify as lawyers.

“I think that the issue that will provoke continuous discussion is the issue of how law graduates will enter law school and compete to pass, fail or repeat.

“We are mindful of the fact that some of the issues on the admission of law graduates to law school are before the courts but we can discuss the issue with circumspection without dwelling on the cases which are in court. “We can come together and offer solutions to the regulators of legal education”.

Planning
Justice Omoro Tanko also urged the students to develop what he termed the ‘nine commandments’ some of which included studying ahead of every lecture in the pursuit of their legal education. He quoted Joseph Story, a former Supreme Court Justice of the US, “The law is a jealous mistress and requires long and constant courtship. It is not to be won by trifling favours but lavish habits”. A quote that amplifies the need for law students to spend time with their books if they intend to excel.

“The most important strategy is to plan and this requires that the student develops an objective”, he added.

For final-year students with the ambition to enter the Ghana School of Law, Justice Omoro Tanko advised them to study hard.

“There are no shortcuts. If students prepare well, they will pass well. It is highly competitive because of the numbers but that is what the world is all about”.

To succeed in legal education and thus the profession, Justice Ackaah-Boafo, who is also a lecturer at the Ghana School of Law encouraged the students to develop a passion for the job, empathy for their clients, and honesty in their dealings with all.

source: graphiconline