Law students have a role in justice delivery – Yahaya Seini

Mr. Alhassan Yahaya Seini, Director of Legal AID Scheme, has charged law students to apply themselves to the study of the law and help in the justice delivery system.

“Let us not wish just to become lawyers, but we must apply ourselves to the study of the law,” Mr. Yahaya Seini said at a lecture organised by the SRC of Mountcrest University College as part of the Schools SRC Week Celebrations.

The lecture which was the first to be organised by the SRC is on the theme: “Accessibility to Legal Aid in Ghana: The role of the law student.”

Mr. Yahaya Seini noted the there are a lot of things law students could do to help in the country's justice delivery system.

He said Legal AID Scheme was set up in 1987 mainly for people who could not pay for the services of a lawyer.

He said, however, with the constitutional provision, the Legal Aid Scheme is now opened to all citizens who needed legal assistance.

Mr. Yahaya Seini also noted that the Legal Aid Scheme from the beginning was not meant to have full time lawyers, adding that the concept of pro-bono service is non-existent because most lawyers refuse to offer it.

He urged the various law faculties training lawyers in the country to give practical experience to their students by organising law clinics for them.

Mr. Kweku Ansah-Asare, Rector of the Mountcrest University College and Chairman of the occasion expressed concern about the system of training lawyers in the country, which he noted is not the best.

He said current methods of training lawyers has become more academic rather than practical training that would equip them for the world of work.