Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, has announced plans to introduce legislation to establish an independent regulatory body responsible for professional standards and discipline within Ghana’s legal profession.
The proposed Legal Practitioners Standard Board is expected to operate independently of government and provide a separate framework for receiving and addressing complaints against lawyers.
Dr Ayine made the announcement in a speech delivered on his behalf by Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai at the Ghana Bar Association Conference 2026/27 on Monday, September 14.
The conference is being held under the theme, “150 Years of Ghana’s Legal Evolution: Transforming the Profession and Driving its Future with Industry.”
According to Dr Ayine, his experience as a private legal practitioner, lecturer, lawmaker and Attorney-General had provided him with a broad understanding of the legal profession and its interaction with the state.
He said the proposed legislation would first establish the Legal Practitioners Standard Board as an independent statutory institution mandated to set and uphold standards of professional conduct and continuing competence among lawyers.
A separate disciplinary committee would also be created under the board to deal with complaints and disciplinary matters, keeping that function distinct from licensing and standard-setting responsibilities.
Dr Ayine said the committee would comprise lay persons, representatives from other professions and members of the Bar, with defined procedures for receiving, investigating and determining complaints.
He further noted that lawyers facing disciplinary proceedings would be guaranteed due process, including being informed of the allegations against them, having an opportunity to be heard, receiving proportionate sanctions and having the right to appeal to the courts.
“That way no lawyer in our beloved country need ever fear that the disciplinary process can be turned into an instrument of harassment by clients, a competitor or the Bench or indeed by the government,” he said.
Dr Ayine stressed that the proposed reforms were not designed to place lawyers’ disciplinary processes under political influence.
“This reform is not an attempt by the government to bring the disciplinary proceedings of lawyers under political control,” he said.
“It is quite the opposite. It is to extricate the disciplinary procedures from government control and make the Ghana Bar Association and the Bar the owners of this process.”
He said an independent regulatory framework was necessary to preserve the ability of lawyers to challenge and hold governments accountable when required.
“It is only this kind of regulator that we believe can credibly discipline the profession whose members must from time to time stand up to the government of the day,” he said.
Dr Ayine said the proposed bill would be subjected to extensive consultations with the Ghana Bar Association, the General Legal Council, the Judicial Council and other relevant stakeholders before it is presented to Parliament.
