Our legal system, like so many other institutions in our state, is a direct product of our colonial past. After a few fitful starts, the Supreme Court of Judicature for the Gold Coast Colony was established by ordinance by the Imperial Parliament in Westminster in 1876. It consisted of a Chief Justice and not more than four puisne judges. Provision was further made for a Full Court consisting of the Chief Justice and one or two puisne judges which acted as a Court of Appeal sitting in Accra and Lagos, which was then administered as part of the Gold Coast Colony. The Supreme Court was vested with the same jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters as was exercisable by the Court of Queen's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of Exchequer.

It can be properly said that the establishment of the Supreme Court constituted the commencement of the legal profession in our country. Hence the Bar's valid claim to be the most senior of the professions in the nation.