About the Speaker –
About J.B. Danquah Lectures
The J. B. Danquah Memorial Lecture Series was instituted in 1968 in memory of a foundation member of the Academy, Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah, who died in prison in February 1965. J. B. Danquah was a lawyer, philosopher, scholar, novelist, dramatist, politician, and journalist.
The themes for the Danquah Memorial lectures were originally restricted to fields like law, history, philosophy, and literature, disciplines whose study occupied the greater part of J. B. Danquah’s academic pursuits. His Excellency W. B. Van Lare, a Foundation Member of the Academy, who at the time was Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada, and had had a long and distinguished career at the bench, delivered the maiden Danquah Memorial Lecture in 1968. The lecture was on the topic, ‘The Law, Human Rights and the Judiciary’.
Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong, a Professor of Law at California Western School of Law in San Diego, USA and a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences has said that there is the need for Law Schools to provide training that focuses on developing the digital abilities of Students.
Prof. Oppong was delivering a lecture to mark Day-2 of the J.B Danquah Memorial Lecture hosted by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. The theme for this year’s lecture is “Digitalization and the future of the Ghana Legal System”.
The lecture with the topic Legal Education and Professional Competence in our digital world examined the skills, knowledge, and competencies that legal education institutions must provide for students, to enable them to practice or work in a world that is increasingly marked by digitalization. It also explored the potential of digital technology to transform the delivery of legal education in Ghana. He said “technology-focused clinical legal education is another means of preparing students for practice in the era of digitalization.”
Prof. Oppong added that “It is time for a commissioned study into the future of legal education in Ghana. This lecture calls for the first major sector-wide review of legal education and training in our country. All stakeholders, including our law schools, the Bar, the Bench, the GLC, the National Accreditation Board, students, businesses, and the public, should be engaged in this process of digitizing the study and practice of law.”
He went further to say that as a country, we need a new vision for legal education. He also proposed that before this major sector-wide review is concluded, there needs to be a pause in the establishment of new law faculties and departments within the universities and rather pay attention to the profound changes that digitalization will bring to the country.
Present at the lecture were Fellows of the Academy, students at the University of Ghana and University of Professional Studies law school, Accra College of Education, Accra Wesley Girls High School, Ghanata Dodowa, Presec Legon and Accra Technical Training College.
Wednesday, February 23, 2022, is the final day of the lecture and the topic will be, “Consumer protection in the Digital Marketplace and work on digital labor platforms.” Lecture 3 will examine how digital technology challenges the Ghana legal system’s regulatory function. It will focus on consumer protection in the digital marketplace and new working methods organized through digital labor platforms such as Uber and Bolt. It will argue for statutory and judicial interventions to protect consumers and platform workers.
The event streamed live on the Academy’s Facebook, YouTube pages and transmitted live on Starr 103.5fm was chaired by Emeritus Professor Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, a Fellow and Vice President of the Science Section of the Academy.
