Supreme Court judge nominee, Justice Janapare Adzua Bartels-Kodwo, has proposed a bold measure to bridge the human resource gap in Ghana’s Legal Aid Scheme by deploying freshly graduated law students to serve in legal aid offices as part of their mandatory national service.
Speaking during her vetting by Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Tuesday, June 17, Justice Bartels-Kodwo acknowledged the deep-rooted challenges confronting the Legal Aid Commission, citing inadequate funding, limited lawyers, and structural constraints as key barriers to ensuring equal access to justice for vulnerable groups in the country.
According to her, while the Legal Aid Scheme is designed to support the underprivileged, the demand for its services far exceeds its current operational capacity. She stressed that despite its noble mandate, the institution is severely under-resourced to meet the growing legal needs of Ghanaians, especially in rural and underserved communities.
“The Legal Aid has its issues in terms of funding, enough lawyers and other peculiarities. In terms of helping the vulnerable, many more people need Legal Aid than the country needs Legal Aid to offer,” she stated.
To tackle this deficit, Justice Bartels-Kodwo recommended that newly trained lawyers from the Ghana School of Law be assigned to legal aid offices across the country as part of their national service requirement. This, she argued, would not only address the staffing shortfall but also help build institutional capacity.
“One thing that comes to mind in terms of staffing Legal Aid is that fresh lawyers from school could be made to do their national service right across the country in Legal Aid offices. The point is if we can send young lawyers as national service personnel to Legal Aid offices, that will also fill in the gap and with this we will build the capacity and achieve what they are set out to do,” she explained.
Justice Bartels-Kodwo further expressed optimism that this approach could motivate some of these young professionals to consider long-term careers in public interest law.
