The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame says Parliament got it wrong by stating in a resolution that the General Legal Council advertised a 50 percent pass mark for admission in accordance with the advertised rules of the entrance examinations for the Ghana School of Law.
Reacting to what he described as an “impugned Parliamentary resolution” of October 29, 2021 that sought to direct the General Legal Council to admit 499 students, Mr Yeboah Dame stated that Parliament created an “erroneous impression” with its resolution.
And therefore there was the need to correct the erroneous impression as the General Legal Council did not advertise anything about a 50 percent pass mark.
He said Parliament has no power to instruct the General Legal Council to admit the 499 students who have been denied admission after the entrance examination.
In a letter dated November 1, 2021 and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, the A-G said the legislature has no role to issue that directive under Article 106 of the 1992 Constitution.
Mr Yeboah Dame, explained that the General Legal Council in the notice published in Daily Graphic on May 14, 2021, stated that “applicants may be granted admission if they have passed the entrance examination conducted by the GLC.”
“The notice also did not state the manner in which a pass mark set by the GLC would be determined,” he stated.
“It is clear therefore, that a contention that the originally announced or advertised pass mark was 50 percent is erroneous and insupportable.”
Below is a copy of the notice in the Daily Graphic of May 14, 2021.
Last Friday, Parliament, by a resolution, directed the Ghana School of Law (GSL) to admit all 499 students who passed the recent entrance examination but have been denied admission.
“The General Legal Council is hereby directed to proceed and admit all the students who passed in accordance with the advertised rules of the examinations,” the Parliamentary directive indicated.https://3e588d69b080cfb08acc1c0bad2df42c.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
It added, “The Attorney-General is the leader of the bar in Ghana and he must see to it that the directive that 499 students who scored 50 marks are admitted is complied with. We do not want to get to contempt of Parliament issues.”
But reacting, the A-G, Mr Yeboah Dame respectively indicated that the resolution passed by Parliament on Friday, October 29, 2021 cannot be considered since Parliament has no constitutional powers for that directive.
However, he indicated President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo per a petition by the 499 candidates has already directed the A-G to make the necessary intervention to the GLC on behalf of the candidates.
That directive from the President, he said came “three clear days” before the Parliamentary resolution.
“Within the constraints of the law, I am following up on the directive of the President to make the necessary intervention on behalf of the students.”
“Be that as it may, it is imperative to correct a few erroneous impressions contained in the impugned Parliamentary resolution of 29th October, 2021.”
