A record 1,568 lawyers have been called to the Ghanaian Bar, the largest number in any single call, at a ceremony on Friday, October 9, 2026. The General Legal Council organised the event at the ICGC Christ Temple on Teshie Bush Road in Accra, and Chief Justice Paul Kwadwo Baffoe-Bonnie used it to deliver his final address to new lawyers before he leaves the bench.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie disclosed that he will leave office in a few months after reaching the mandatory age of 70. He used the record intake to speak about conscience, advocacy, and public service, and he asked the new lawyers to make him proud.
“The true success of legal education would therefore not be measured simply by how many lawyers we produce, but by what kind of lawyers we produce.”
Chief Justice Paul Kwadwo Baffoe-Bonnie
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie told the gathering that more than 1,500 lawyers, precisely 1,568, had been called, the largest number yet in any single call to the Bar. “That is a number which we should be proud of,” he stated.
He then turned attention to what the figure could mean. He suggested that 1,500 lawyers could mean 1,500 more consciences in national life, more advocates for justice and more people capable of standing between power and abuse.
He also reminded the class of those who began the journey but did not finish it, defeated by circumstances, the demands of professional education or the burdens of life.
Quality Over Quantity in the Legal Profession
The Chief Justice challenged the class not to treat the record as an end in itself. He stated: “Do not allow yourself to become merely a number.” He described the profession as one of power, and he insisted that influence carries a duty. The law gives influence so that lawyers may become useful, not so that they may become important.
He urged them to be competent, to read widely, to understand the history and purpose of the law, to write clearly and to prepare thoroughly. He also asked them to learn to disagree without becoming disagreeable and warned that confidence cannot make up for inadequate preparation.
“Your admission today is not a certificate of arrival. It is an invitation to begin.” Justice Baffoe-Bonnie opened the personal part of his address with news about his own future.
He explained that he will leave the office of Chief Justice in a few months, having reached the mandatory age of 70, and that this is the last group of lawyers he will enrol. He confessed that the thought made the programme deeply touching for him.
He told the class that the moment changes how he sees them. “I do not see merely more than 1,500 new lawyers,” he stated. “I see the future of the Ghanaian legal profession.”
The Careers He Expects Them to Build
The Chief Justice sketched the paths ahead. Some of the new lawyers will become advocates, he predicted, and some will become judges. Others will enter public service, Parliament, academia, business or diplomacy. He allowed himself a note of hope for the future: “Perhaps one day, one of you will stand where I stand today.”
He added that they will take the profession into places none of his generation can predict. Justice Baffoe-Bonnie closed with a simple request. He did not ask for fame or wealth, and he did not ask for a perfect record of victories.
He asked the new lawyers to make him proud by becoming good lawyers. He described them as lawyers whose word can be trusted and who will not trade their conscience for a brief.
He reminded them that they have inherited a profession with a proud history and with imperfections that need courage to confront. One day, he noted, another generation will stand where they stand now and inherit what they have built. He urged them to build it well.
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