The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) is a professional association of lawyers in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, including what used to be called solicitors and barristers but are now called legal practitioners, as well as magistrates.
By convention all lawyers admitted to practice in Ghana become automatic members of the association. The GBA has its roots in the Gold Coast Bar Association, the first president of which was
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
an lawyer Francis (Frans) Dove.
History and membership
The British parliament established the Supreme Court of Judicature for the
Gold Coast Colony
The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence in 1957 as Ghana. The term Gold Coast is also often used to describe all of the four separate jurisdictions that were under the ad ...
in 1876, with a Chief Justice and no more than four
Puisne Justice
A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use
The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...
s.
John Mensah Sarbah
John Mensah Sarbah (3 June 1864 – 27 November 1910)S. Tenkorang, "John Mensah Sarbah, 1864–1910", in ''Transactions of the HYistorical Society of Ghana'', Vol. XIV, No. 1, Legon, June 1973 (pp. 65–78), pp. 65, 76. Some other sources (incl ...
was the first native of Ghana to be called to the bar by
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
in 1887.
The legal system was based on that of England, in which solicitors provide legal advice and prepare legal documents, while barristers act as advocates in court. However, this division was not observed in practice in Ghana, and in 1960 an act abolished the distinction.
Until the
Ghana School of Law
The Ghana School of Law (GSL) is an educational institution in Ghana for training lawyers.
The school is the only one that provides training for law graduates in the Barrister at Law program.
The Professional Law Course is designed for Law Gradu ...
was established in 1958, all lawyers were trained abroad, almost always at the
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...
in England.
As of 2011, there were about 2,500 practising lawyers, although not all had registered as members of the Bar Association.
Even though the legal profession in The Gold Coast (now Ghana) can be traced to as far back as 1846, the Ghana Bar Association as a body had its first constitution in 1958.
The current national president of the GBA is Yaw Boafo
Some past presidents of the GBA include:
*
Robert Samuel Blay
Robert Samuel Blay, was a Ghanaian barrister and judge. He was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana during the First Republic. He is often referred to as the first Nzema people, Nzema lawyer. He was president of the Ghana Bar Association on t ...
(1957–1959) and (1960–1962)
*
Archie Casely-Hayford
Archibald "Archie" Casely-Hayford (1898 – 20 August 1977) was a British-trained Ghanaian barrister and politician, who was involved in nationalist politics in the former Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). Having joined the Convention People's Par ...
(1959–1960)
*
J. B. Danquah
Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah (18 December 1895 – 4 February 1965) was a Ghanaian politician, scholar, lawyer, and one of the founding fathers of Ghana. He played a significant role in pre- and post-colonial Ghana, which was former ...
(1962–1963)
*
Victor Owusu
''For the rapper with the same birth name, see V.I.C.''
Victor Owusu (26 December 1923 – 16 December 2000) was a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. He has also served as Attorney General and Justice minister as well as foreign minister on two occa ...
(acting 1963–1965) and (1965–1966)
*
William Ofori-Atta (1966–1967)
*
Joe Appiah
Joseph Emmanuel Appiah, MP ( ; 16 November, 1918 – 8 July, 1990)Eric Pace"Joe Appiah Is Dead; Ghanaian Politician And Ex-Envoy, 71" ''New York Times'', July 12, 1990. was a Ghanaian lawyer, politician and statesman.
Biography
He was born in K ...
(1967–1970)
*
Joe Reindorf
Joe Reindorf (1924 – 1996) was a Ghanaian historian, lawyer and politician. He served in the third republic as Attorney General and minister for Justice of Ghana.
Early life and education
Formerly a pupil of Achimota School, his contemporar ...
(1970–1971)
*
Edward Nathaniel Moore
Edward Nathaniel Moore was a Ghanaian lawyer and the commissioner for justice and Attorney General of Ghana during the era of the National Redemption Council and Supreme Military Council military regimes.
Early life and education
Moore was born ...
(1971–1972)
*J. B. Quashie-Idun (1972–1976)
*J. K. F. Adadevoh (1976–1979)
*W. A. N. Adumoah-Bossman (1979–1981)
*E. D. Kom (1981–1982)
*J. K. Agyemang (1982–1985)
*
Peter Ala Adjetey
Peter Ala Adjetey (11 August 1931 – 15 July 2008) was the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana from 2001 to 2005.
Early life
Peter Ala Adjetey was born on 11 August 1931 at Accra, the capital of Ghana. He obtained his basic education at St. P ...
(1985–1989)
*Anthony K. Mmieh (1989–1992?)
*Nutifafa Kuenyehia (1992–95),
*
Sam Okudzeto
Samuel Awuku Okudzeto (born ) is a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. In 2011, he was chair of the International Advisory Commission of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and a member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. He is a former Mem ...
(1995–98)
*Joseph Ebow Quashie (1998–2001)
*Paul Adu-Gyamfi (2001–?)
*Solomon Kwame Tetteh
*
Nii Osah Mills (2007–08)
*Frank Beecham (2009–12)
*
Nene A. O. Amegatcher (2012–2015)
*Benson Nutsukpui 2015–2018
*Tony Forson Jnr. 2018–2021
The Ghana Bar Association is a member of the
International Bar Association
The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associat ...
.
Controversy
In October 2010, then GBA Vice President, Mr. Justice
Kusi-Minkah Premo, called on the Chief Justice and the Council to eliminate inconsistency, corruption and misconduct by judges.
In April 2011, then National President
Frank W. K. Beecham spoke in defence of Mr Justice E. K. Ayebi, a judge who had come under attack after acquitting 14 defendants in a murder trial.
In July 2011, four lawyers made allegations of widespread corruption among judges. The GBA condemned the four for making unsubstantiated claims, and asked them to name the judges. Another lawyer openly confessed to having bribed a judge.
The GBA said it would take legal steps to prosecute him.
The four lawyers were blacklisted by the Association of Magistrates and Judges.
They and others stated that they were considering forming an alternative Association.
The Ghana Bar Association held its annual general meeting in
Cape Coast
Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...
in September 2011, soon after two magistrates had been sacked for demanding bribes. Then GBA President Frank Beecham said that the association would fight corruption in all its forms. The GBA would establish a complaints unit to take complaints about corruption and ensure that offenders were prosecuted.
See also
*
General Legal Council
The General Legal Council is the body that regulates the Legal Profession in Ghana. It was set up in 1960 by an act of parliament, The Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32). Its role was to oversee legal education and the legal profession in the cou ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
1876 establishments in Gold Coast (British colony)
African bar associations
Legal organisations based in Ghana
Organizations established in 1876