The Author, Joe Ghartey is a Public Policy Lecturer in Ashesi’s Law, Humanities, and Social Sciences Department. He is a Ghanaian lawyer and served as Attorney-General of Ghana from 2006–2009, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 2013–2017, and Railways Development Minister from 2017 – 2021. He also served as a Member of Parliament from 2004 – 2020.

Throughout my 36 years of legal practice, I have witnessed firsthand how the intersection of law and public policy shapes our nation’s development. Ghana has some of Africa’s best legal education, with law being offered at both undergraduate and graduate levels in various universities. However, I believe we must push further to develop lawyers who can effectively navigate the complexities of combining public policy with effective governance.  

From 2006 to 2009, I had the honour of serving as Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice. While in office, I saw first-hand how lawyers and legal expertise play crucial roles at every stage of the policy cycle. When I led the introduction of Ghana’s Justice for All Programme, it was driven by my understanding and experiences in law practice of how policy decisions affect society’s most vulnerable members. The programme focused on providing relief to those who had been in prison without trial for an unacceptable period, as well as prisoners who had received harsh sentences for minor crimes. At the time the programme commenced, 30 percent of prisoners in Ghana were on remand. Today, that figure is below 10 percent.