President of the Ghana Law Society and South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has said that it would be unfortunate for the newly established professional body to be seen as an extension of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He said on Channel One TV that the Ghana Law Society is working to remove the perception that it is politically aligned with the NDC.
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“That would be unfortunate. We are already working to dispel it,” he said.
Dafeamekpor said one of the issues the Ghana Law Society wants to address is the difficulty newly qualified lawyers face with national service.
He explained that people who enter law directly after Senior High School may complete their legal training without doing national service.
He said this becomes a problem when such lawyers later apply for positions such as circuit court judges, as a national service certificate is a requirement.
“A national service certificate is a mandatory prerequisite. They've been denied,” he explained.
According to him, the problem has become more common since the introduction of the system that allows students to move directly from SHS into law school.
“So, most of the lawyers were covered by the national service prior to that, but now with the onset of SHS... direct fresh law. That becomes an issue. So, there are a large category of lawyers who fall into this problem,” he said.
Dafeamekpor said the Law Society is therefore seeking to work with the National Service Secretariat to find a solution.
He said the plan is to have newly qualified lawyers posted to district assemblies, courts and other public offices as part of their national service.
“What we want to do now is to have a memorandum of understanding with the national service secretariat so that the freshly minted lawyers will be posted to district assemblies, will be posted to as research officers, to judges and magistrates, and also posted to offices,” he disclosed.
He also proposed linking the current pupillage system to national service.
He explained that pupillage, which is part of the process for becoming a practising lawyer, usually lasts less than a year and therefore does not meet the national service requirement.
“The pupillage doesn't count as national service yet… because pupillage is less than a year. It's a minimum six months,” he said.
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Dafeamekpor said lawyers could instead be posted to public institutions where their skills could benefit communities.
“So, pupillage should be fused into the national service system so that instead of posting the person to some cozy law firm at Airport Residential, you should go and work at the finance department of South Dayi for one year and assist the district assemblies,” he added.
'It would be unfortunate to be perceived as an NDC Bar Association.' President of the Law Society of Ghana and South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, says the newly established professional body is working to dispel perceptions that it is aligned with the NDC. Watch more here: https://t.co/LiTeTaPIs6 #RocksonNelsonDafeamekpor #LawSocietyOfGhana #GhanaBarAssociation #PointOfView #ChannelOneTV #CitiFM
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