General News of Saturday, 8 July 2017
Source: kasapafmonline.com
2017-07-08
Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare
The US-based Ghanaian Professor who sued the General Legal Council over the Ghana School of Law admission process, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare has described as another unconstitutional administrative fiat (SCR 92/Vol. 78) issued by the GLC over it plans to still go ahead with the conduct of the 2017 entrance exams into the Ghana School of Law.
“The Court’s declaration is clear that the exams are unconstitutional; students are automatically qualified and the exam cannot be used to exclude any student,” he wrote in reaction to the GLC’s decision not to revoke the impending exams and subsequent interviews for fresh applicants.
A group of Law Degree Holders calling themselves Concerned LLB Graduates last week called on the GLC to facilitate automatic admission into the Law School by scrapping this year’s exams set for July 14, 2017.
The position of the LLB Graduates, follows the Supreme Court ruling declaring the entrance examination and subsequent interview by the Ghana School of law as unconstitutional.
They were of the view that the impending exams will amount to an illegality after the Supreme Court’s judgment on the matter.
But the GLC in its response sighted by Kasapafmonline.com shot down the petition by the group, saying the entrance exams will take place in line with the terms of the judgment by the Supreme Court.
Commenting on the latest decision by the GLC, Prof. Asare said the “Council seems to misunderstand the Court’s consequential order as it still wants to administer what he says is the illegal exam.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I reproduce the consequential order as follows: “As preparations towards admissions in October 2017 have already been initiated and bearing in mind that persons who would avail themselves of such opportunities are qualified within the scope of regulations 2 and 3 as pronounced in this judgment, we do not think it is in the public interest to interfere with such arrangements.”
“This order simply means the Council should continue with ongoing arrangements bearing in mind that students are already qualified and hence need not be subject to any entrance examinations, interviews or other screening devices.
“It is disheartening that the Council will opportunistically interpret such a clear order as a mandate to persist in unconstitutionality.
“I reject the Council’s latest unconstitutional administrative fiat and call on all students and stakeholders to do same.
“It is trite in this country that unconstitutional acts are void and must be stopped immediately. The Council ought to know better.”
