More than 80 per cent of final-year students of the Ghana School of Law(GSL) have passed their final exams.
The exams to select qualified students to be called to the Ghana Bar were conducted in July 2022 by the Independent Examination Committee (IEC) of the General Legal Council (GLC).
IEC is the body mandated to conduct all examinations taken by law students.
The results of this year’s exams were released on Thursday, November 3.
Some 81 per cent of over 800 Part Two Professional Law Course students – defined as candidates who started and completed their professional law course on various campuses of the GSL – passed.
However, 18 per cent of candidates who sat for the exams failed at least one or more of the papers.
The percentage of successful candidates belonging to the post-call law class – defined as persons who have been called to the Bar in other common law jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Nigeria, and The Gambia was, however, lower; at over 60 per cent.
In all, some 850 candidates of the Ghana School of Law are fit to be considered for the Ghana Bar on November 11, 2022, provided they meet other requirements.
Of the Part Two candidates who sat the exams, 11 per cent have been referred, meaning they failed at least one or two papers.
Candidates in this category usually rewrite their papers in the first quarter of the new year.
The successful ones will then be called to the Mini-Bar in either May or June.
To pass a paper, a candidate must obtain at least 50 per cent of the 100 available marks per paper.
In cases where a candidate fails two papers or less, that candidate will be referred, whereas if a candidate fails three or more papers, the candidate is repeated for the entire class because it is considered a fail.
A mere passing of the exams does not grant an automatic right to be called to the Ghana Bar.
After you have passed the exams, the General Legal Council requires that you satisfy the requirement of “Good Character” before you can qualify to be called to the Ghana Bar.
The GLC is expected to hold a major dinner in honour of all the successful candidates on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.