Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood
An Accra human rights high court has set April 10 to commence hearing of the case brought against the General Legal Council (GLC) by eight students of the Ghana School of Law.
The court, presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei-Addo, adjourned the case at the instance of the GLC, the lawyer of which was not in court.
William Asamoah Sarpong, an administrative assistant who represented the GLC, said the lawyer was on his way and urged the court to be given the opportunity to call him.
But the court held that William ought to have called the lawyer before the case was called.
Justice Agyei-Addo said the matter was due to be heard and that the court could not wait, indicating that it would also have to give the GLC the opportunity to be heard.
The court as a result, stood down the case for 30 minutes to enable the GLC lawyer to appear before it.
After 30 minutes the judge called both lawyers into her chamber and adjourned proceedings until April 10, 2017.
Earlier, Francis Kwame Yeboah, lawyer for the applicants, said he was served the response of the GLC on Tuesday and had some issues about the manner it was served.
On the 30-minute hold-up, the lawyer said he was surprised because the GLC had filed its response and as such, ought to have been in court.
Eight out of over 250 students hauled the GLC before the court, demanding the re-marking of their examination papers – which they were said to have ‘failed’ in – by an independent body.
The plaintiffs are Samson H.A.V. Oddoye, Eric Narh Kofi Akwetey, Blessing Eyra Kokui Agoada, Akurugu Awine Thomas, Hillary Buntugu, Richard Amarh, Godwin Kotey and Janet Afi Salakpi
They are invoking the jurisdiction of the court by an application of judicial review for an order of mandamus to GLC to effect the re-marking of examination papers deemed to have been below the pass mark.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, in a 24-paragarah affidavit in support of the motion, stated that the 2015/2016 academic year was special in that the old system of professional legal education, which lasted for two years of purely classroom studies and examination, was abolished and replaced by a new system where classroom study was limited to one year, divided into two semesters with examination at the end of each.
He said after the classroom work and examination, those deemed to have passed would go into internship with professional legal chambers or the courts for six months before they are called to the Bar.
The plaintiffs said they were in this novel system and after the first semester, which lasted between October 2015 and May 2016, examinations were conducted in six subjects from May to June last year.
The eight applicants said after the said examination, no results were published for any student to know how well they fared in the first semester examination.
The lawyer said examination results which covered both the first and the second semesters were published on December 19, 2016.
According to the applicants, no transcripts of results were made available to anybody, making it impossible for them to know how well they did in any paper.
The eight students, among others, averred that they made a formal request for re-marking of the scripts by an independent body but same was refused.
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By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
jeffdegraft44@yahoo.com