By Alie Sonta Kamara
Four hundred and ninety-three candidates will commence the Bar Final Examinations on Monday, 9th June, 2025.
Starting with criminal procedure, the examination is destined to last for ten days, including other modules such as the law of evidence, ethics and advocacy, general paper, (four subjects), among others.
To pass this examination, a candidate requires 50 marks. Having three references means repeating the whole examination.
Last year, three hundred and seventy-seven candidates took the Bar Final Examinations. Out of this number, two hundred and one successfully sailed through, with ninety-two returning for references as the School withheld eighty-four for financial and other reasons.
In the last five years, the number of candidates who took the examinations has witnessed an exponential increase. In 2023, only one hundred and ninety-three received qualifications to become legal practitioners.
This year is marking the 35th final exams the School has conducted since it was established in September 1989 under the provisions of the Council of Legal Education Act 1989.
The journey to become a legal practitioner starts at the Sierra Leone Law School, where those admitted had to cover eight months of intensive class-taking and final exams. Upon passing the Bar Final Examinations, graduands are called to the bar.
After the Law School brain-racking activity, the fortunate ones are required to practise pupillage at recognized law firms for 12 months as per section 10 of the Legal Practitioners Act of 2000.
Those opting to practise at the Law Officers Department will cover 18 months as per section 11 of the Legal Practitioners Act of 2000.
The pupillage itself will help lawyers learn how to file or draft papers, how to argue in court, and many more real-life law activities.
Before the pupillage, such legal minds should have signed the Temporary Register at the General Legal Council, a body charged with the responsibility of issuing out licenses to legal practitioners.
