Passage of Draft Legislative Instrument and Legal Aid Commission (GH0058)

Commitment description

The commitment is to pass into law, the Legal Aid Commission’s draft Legislative Instrument which includes a Paralegal framework for enhancing the delivery of legal aid and people centered justice in Ghana. This seeks to formally recognise and operationalise the work of paralegals in Ghana in providing basic access through people-centered justice approach and to complement legal and law-related services in enhancing the administration of justice.

Problem to be addressed

Paralegals play a critical role in providing basic legal services and access to justice for community work which they do in the face of numerous challenges. In Ghana, some of the factors that inhibit access to justice and legal aid services are poverty, illiteracy, the bureaucratic nature of the Ghanaian legal system, and undue delays in the administration of justice. The recognition and operationalisation of paralegal services in the administration of justice is only now beginning to gain attention in Ghana. Meanwhile, Ghana’s commitment to promote constitutional democracy, rule of law and access to justice for all persons is exhibited in the steps taken to establish an all-inclusive system that guarantees the individual’s access to justice. Consequently, for the poor and marginalised, the state has introduced some public schemes of legal aid to provide legal advice, assistance and representation to persons who are unable to afford legal services. From an international human rights perspective, the implementation of these schemes of legal aid in Ghana takes a legal empowerment approach, that is, know, use and shape law, with the objective to facilitate basic access to justice in a manner that guarantees equality of all persons. The Parliament of Ghana in enacting the Legal Aid Commission Act, 2018 (Act 977) mooted the concept relative to the development of a system for the participation of paralegals or legal assistants in legal aid delivery. The indispensability of the role of paralegals in providing complementary legal and law-related services has long been recognized. Thus, the development and operationalization of a regime of paralegalism in this context has been considered as a necessity and reliable option for the country to boost its resource capacities vis-à-vis the need to ensure effective access to justice for all, especially the indigent and vulnerable. In the face of the wide scope and varied nature of legal aid activities and service, a paradox arises from the relatively limited group of legal aid providers in the country, particularly manifest in the over-reliance and concentration on legal professionals for the provision of legal aid [the demand syndrome]. Meanwhile, accessing the services of these legal professionals/lawyers is too expensive, too specialised, or too far away to serve the millions in need of legal assistance. Hence, the work of paralegals will help to resolve the imbalance between the supply of, and demand for, legal services. The state-funded Legal Aid Commission, mandated by Article 294 of the Constitution, has only 57 lawyers serving the entire nation, out of 7,386 lawyers registered with the Ghana Bar Association. This shortage hampers the efficient delivery of legal aid, particularly for vulnerable and underprivileged populations. Hence, having paralegals recognised and operationalised in the delivery of justice will be instrumental in complementing the roleplayed by lawyers in Ghana.

The commitment

The commitment is in two-fold components:
1. Pass into law the draft Legal Aid Commission Legislative Instrument and paralegal framework for legal aid delivery in Ghana.
2. Create public awareness/sensitization on the legislative instrument and paralegal guide for legal aid delivery, when passed into law.

Contribution of the commitment to solving the problem

In Ghana, organisations such as the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), POS Foundation, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and others have trained persons as paralegals and continue to work with these persons in the communities. They have attempted to set up networks or alliances of paralegals, however, these networks or alliances usually do not include all paralegal organisations, and only last while there is capacity and funding to operate and engage their services. These interventions, however, lack statutory recognition and backing, that is, paralegals do not yet have a relationship with the state to allow them thrive in their roles. The contribution of Commitment 1 (passage of the Legal Aid Commission Legislative Instrument and paralegal framework for legal aid delivery in Ghana) to addressing the lack of access to justice for vulnerable Ghanaians is that, it will give legal backing and formal recognition to the work of paralegals in Ghana. Therefore, the role of paralegals will be indispensable in providing complementary legal and law-related services in varied ways in the delivery of legal aid. Paralegals will work directly with communities to raise awareness of rights, laws, and policies; help clients to navigate legal and administrative processes in the pursuit of remedies; and support citizen engagement in law and policy reform. It will minimise the over-reliance on legal counsel/lawyers for the provision of legal aid. Commitment 2, if carried out will enable the citizenry, particularly the poor, marginalised and persons unable to access the services of a lawyer (due to the expensive nature of legal services) to be aware of the alternative approaches and opportunities for accessing legal services in the communities and the complementary role and relevance of paralegals in the dispensation of effective and efficient justice delivery.

Relevance of the commitment to OGP Values

The relevance of this commitment to the values of OGP include the following:

Transparency: Access to justice and legal aid services for all, especially the vulnerable and the marginalised remains an important pillar in a democratic society. Hence, the passage into law of the draft Legal Aid Commission’s Legislative Instrument under this commitment will enhance citizens access to varied legal services especially where their rights are violated. It will open up and create various channels and avenues for citizens to access justice and legal aid services. Paralegals will be able to use the various people-centered justice approaches to resolve disputes in the communities, towns and cities where they operate. Further, by the enactment of the commitment, the citizenry will demand that the government becomes more transparent in its social contract of making access to information, legal aid and varied legal services much more available to the citizenry.

Accountability: As the draft L.I is passed into law, it will help to regulate, and offer recognition to the role of paralegals in the administration of justice. The citizens will demand that the public agencies/government put in place structures and resources to support the work of the paralegals. This will ensure that the government institutions with the mandate to regulate the work of the paralegals are accountable to the public, especially in the operationalisation of paralegals in Ghana. Also, the public will be able to monitor how the paralegal framework is being implemented.

Citizen Participation: The passage of the L.I under this commitment will enable individuals and communities with legal needs to know where to go for help, obtain the help they need, and move through a system that offers procedural, substantive, and expeditious justice. It is expected that since citizens, particularly the national and community-based organizations who were part of conceptualising this commitment will closely monitor the implementation of same to ensure that paralegals are recognised and can thrive in their work while providing free legal aid services to all persons mandated by the Constitution of Ghana

Milestone Activity with verifiable deliverables | Start date | End date

Final draft Legal Aid Commission L.I and paralegal framework submitted to the Office of Attorney General for comments/input. | February 2025 | April 2025

Draft L.I and paralegal guide submitted to, and approved by Cabinet. | July 2025 October 2025 Draft L.I laid before Parliament. December 2025 January 2026 Draft L.I passed by Parliament. | January 2026 |February 2026 Public sensitization/ awareness creation. March 2026 Ongoing Build capacity of stakeholders | February 2026 | Ongoing