Gertrude Emefa Donkor, a newly qualified lawyer and former SRC President of the Ghana School of Law, has raised concerns about the shortage of lawyers in Ghana.
Speaking on The Point of View on Channel One TV with Bernard Avle on Monday, October 14, Emefa dispelled the myth that the country is oversaturated with legal professionals, emphasizing that the current lawyer-to-citizen ratio is insufficient.
Emefa highlighted that there is currently only one lawyer for every 5,000 Ghanaians, far below the ideal ratio of 1 lawyer per 250 citizens.
“The ratio of lawyers to citizens averagely needs to be 1 to 250. Currently, in Ghana, we have one lawyer for 5000 citizens, we are under-lawyered.
“We’re actually under-lawyered and we need more. But people see the numbers and they say why are you producing too many lawyers? But we are under-lawyered. One is to 5,000 that is the ratio.”
As the outgoing SRC President of the Ghana School of Law, Emefa expressed concern about the impact of this shortage on Ghana’s justice system.
She noted that many inmates are imprisoned without proper legal representation, leading to unjust incarcerations that could have been avoided with adequate legal counsel.
She further emphasised the critical role that lawyers play in ensuring justice and fairness, underscoring the need for more legal professionals to address these systemic challenges.
“A lot of people are in jail now because they came to court without representation and they couldn’t make their case. And so, they are lying in jail. A lot of cases in court now shouldn’t be there, transactions gone wrong, if you had spoken to a lawyer and had sought legal opinion, you probably wouldn’t have ended in court.
“So we need lawyers, you need a lawyer, every other person needs to talk to a lawyer. You always need legal advice in taking every step, it’s important.”
Emefa was among the 777 newly inducted lawyers in Ghana by the Ghana Legal Council on October 11, 2024, at the Accra International Conference Centre, marking a significant milestone in her career.
10 new lawyers were awarded for outstanding performance during their professional law course. Four of the awardees were men, while six were females.
