Majority Chief Whip and South Dayi Member of Parliament, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, alongside private legal practitioner Israel Tetteh and the Ghana Law Society, have filed a writ at the Supreme Court challenging the exclusive recognition of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) within Ghana’s legal and constitutional framework.
The suit, filed on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, invokes the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Articles 2(1) and 130(1) of the 1992 Constitution.
The plaintiffs argue that the current GBA, a private voluntary association, should not be treated as the sole representative body for lawyers in the country.
The plaintiffs are seeking seven key declarations, including a request for the court to interpret references to the “Ghana Bar Association” in the Constitution and the Legal Profession Act as generic or umbrella terms, rather than exclusive to the existing GBA.
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They contend that granting such exclusive status to a single private group violates constitutional rights to equality and freedom of association, as enshrined in Articles 17 and 21(1)(e) of the 1992 Constitution.
The plaintiffs assert that the continued recognition of the GBA as the sole voice for legal professionals discriminates against other lawyer associations, amounting to an unconstitutional monopoly.
Additionally, they are requesting an order to restrain the current GBA from presenting itself as the only constitutionally recognized legal body in the country, describing such a stance as misleading and unlawful.
The Attorney-General and the Ghana Bar Association have been named as the 1st and 2nd defendants, respectively.
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Speaking to Citi FM in an interview on Wednesday, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Jenjifred Maurice Agyei, questioned the exclusive constitutional rights being enjoyed by the Ghana Bar Association over other legal associations.
“It doesn’t have any legal backing. It is not supported by any Act of Parliament. Comparatively to other jurisdictions like Nigeria and Kenya, where you have Acts of Parliament establishing their law societies, but when you come to Ghana, the Ghana Bar Association, as we have it, is not established by any Act of Parliament. It is a private body and so how can such a private body enjoy constitutional rights?” he said.
“That is why we have mounted this action so that the Supreme Court should be able to tell us who that Ghana Bar is. Whether that Ghana Bar is what we have currently or, in the minds of the framers of the Constitution, they meant a different Ghana Bar. We think that ‘Ghana Bar’ in the Constitution should be interpreted as Associations of Lawyers,” he added.
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