By a communique issued under the hand of the National Secretary of the Ghana Bar Association on the 2nd day of January, 2024, Lawyers are now required to mandatorily show proof of participation in Continuous Legal Education to be able to renew their licence in 2025.

Per the statement from the Association, the legal basis for the compulsion for proof of participation for a minimum of 12 hours in continuous legal education is the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules 2020 LI 2423. The communique from the Bar Association failed to specify the particular rule under which continuous legal education is made condition precedent to licence renewal.

Rule 84 of LI 2423 makes continuous legal education of a minimum of 12 hours in a year compulsory for a lawyer holding a practicing certificate. The rule however does not make licence renewal subject to the participation by a lawyer in continuous legal education (CLE).

The rule reads as follows:

84.(1) A lawyer who holds a practicing certificate issued by the Council shall

(a) complete a minimum of twelve hours of continuing professional development in a calendar year and

(b) submit details of the continuing professional development undertaken to the Council in the form prescribed, and at the time specified by the Council

(2) The Council may, by resolution, specify the nature, content and format of courses and other activities which may be undertaken by a lawyer or a category of lawyers in order to satisfy the requirement of continuing professional development.

(3) The Council may, by resolution following consultation with other bodies as appropriate, increase the minimum number of hours of continuing professional development.

Signal from Anin Yeboah

Justice Anin Yeboah early on in May 2023 signaled a new Legal Profession Bill which will provide for the latest requirement issued by the Bar Association by their communique. The suggestion from the retired Chief Justice suggested that there exists no legal basis to subject the renewal of a solicitor's licence to participation in CLE.

Watch also:

https://www.tiktok.com/@thelawplatform/video/7291642605203426566?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7239416459838375429

A Better Online Platform

In the same communique by the Bar Association, members of the public and the Bar are introduced to the new domain of the Bar Association and a portal for Association and Profession related services and activities. The Association through their communique has offered the following changes to their online portal:

1. A GBA portal with backup and redundancies both for the technology infrastructure and the service providers.

2. Implementation of new smart GBA ID cards (chip and NFC) with the capability of containing up-to-the-minute information on all lawyers at all times (to meet state-of-the-art, Consulate and other international identity standards).

3. Implementation of all portal functions on our smart mobile phones for a complete mobile experience in portal use.

4. Introduction of airport-type access controls at our events, to be debuted at our Kumasi Conference in view of our high numbers. The new smart ID cards are a necessity for this functionality and would overtime help reduce conference costs.

Click to read/download full communique