Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency Francis Xavier-Sosu has filed a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to demand the complete overhaul of the General Legal Council (GLC).
He says it is about time the membership of the Council was reconstituted in order to improve legal education in Ghana.
According to him, he is championing the Private Member’s Bill together with his colleague who represents South Dayi Constituency, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor.
Mr Sosu revealed this on TV3‘s Ghana Tonight on Friday, September 23 after a rescheduling of the entrance exams to the Ghana School of Law earlier in the day.
The exams were rescheduled to a later time after leakages were reported prior to the paper in the morning.
Lawyer Sosu acknowledged the need for reforms to legal education in Ghana, rallying support from the entire citizenry.
“For me, it shouldn’t really be whether the General Legal Council is interested in this change or not or whether the Independent Examination Body is interested in this or not, I think this is the time that every citizen must be involved,” he told host Alfred Ocansey.
He stressed that the Council “is not a body without mistakes” and since it is an agency under the Attorney General, it can be made to account for its actions and inaction.
“In my view, it is obvious that change is imminent and it is the only way we can resolve the matters.
“In fact, it is part of the reasons why myself and my colleague, Hon Dafeamekpor, [are] championing a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament, requesting for a complete overhaul of the General Legal Council; its membership, its composition, its function and everything has to be overhauled.
“The same thing has to be applied to the approach we see legal education.”
Mr Sosu was in 2017 suspended by the Council but this was quashed by the Human Rights Division of an Accra High Court.
Earlier this year, the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) threatened to drag him to the Council for some comments he made about some judges.
