The High Court in Adentan has set aside a controversial directive issued by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) that sought to derecognise qualifications awarded by the Universidad Empresarial de Costa Rica (UNEM), ruling that the regulator acted unlawfully and failed to observe the principles of natural justice.The decision, delivered by Justice Kwame Gyamfi Osei on May 28, 2026, represents a significant victory for 23 academics and professionals who challenged GTEC’s decision after it sought to restrict the use of their doctoral qualifications within Ghana’s tertiary education sector.The dispute arose following a directive issued by GTEC on November 5, 2025, which stated that certificates awarded by UNEM could no longer be used for teaching, appointments, promotions, or career progression within Ghana’s higher education system.The affected degree holders, who obtained their doctoral qualifications from the Costa Rican institution between 2017 and 2023, argued that GTEC had previously assessed, recognised and validated their qualifications, only to subsequently reverse its position without engaging them or offering them an opportunity to be heard.In its ruling, the court agreed with the applicants, finding that the directive directly affected their rights and professional interests and that GTEC ought to have followed due process before issuing such a far-reaching decision.“Since this letter directly affected the applicants, they ought to have been given the opportunity to defend themselves before the derecognition of their certificates,” Justice Osei said in the judgment.The court concluded that GTEC’s actions breached Article 23 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, which requires public administrative bodies to act fairly, reasonably and in accordance with due process when making decisions that affect citizens.A major issue before the court was whether GTEC possessed the legal authority to withdraw recognition of qualifications that had already been awarded and accepted within Ghana’s educational framework.GTEC maintained that it was acting within its statutory mandate to protect academic standards and preserve the integrity of tertiary education. The Commission argued that it had not invalidated UNEM qualifications outright but had merely restricted their future use for academic and professional purposes within Ghana’s tertiary education system.The applicants, however, contended that they had relied on GTEC’s earlier recognition and validation of their qualifications to obtain academic appointments, secure promotions and advance their professional careers.Justice Osei sided with the applicants, ruling that GTEC could not retrospectively undermine qualifications that had already been conferred and recognised.In reaching his decision, the judge referred to Regulation 14 of the National Accreditation Board (Accreditation of Tertiary Institutions) Regulations, 2010 (L.I. 1984), which provides that the revocation of an institution’s accreditation does not affect the validity of degrees that were awarded before such revocation.Although GTEC argued that previously awarded qualifications remained valid despite the institution’s loss of recognised status, the court found the Commission’s position contradictory.“It is a fact that Certificates are specifically acquired for those professional and academic purposes,” Justice Osei said.“Hence, if the same are invalidated or derecognised in Ghana and cannot be used for those purposes, then what should they be used for?”The court held that preventing graduates from using their qualifications for employment, promotion or academic advancement effectively deprived those qualifications of their practical value, despite claims that they remained valid.The court also examined GTEC’s decision to revoke the registration of OAA Consulting Limited, the local representative of UNEM in Ghana.According to the applicants, the revocation was carried out without complying with legal procedures that require regulators to provide institutions with notice and an opportunity to address alleged breaches before sanctions are imposed.They argued that the law required six months’ notice to be given to allow any deficiencies to be corrected before registration could be withdrawn.After reviewing the evidence, Justice Osei found that GTEC had failed to demonstrate that it complied with the necessary procedural requirements before revoking OAA Consulting’s registration.The court therefore ruled that the revocation was procedurally flawed and unlawful.Furthermore, Justice Osei held that the applicants had sufficient legal standing to challenge the revocation because GTEC’s subsequent decision to derecognise UNEM qualifications was founded upon that action.As part of the judgment, the court directed GTEC and all tertiary institutions that had acted on the directive to reverse any decisions taken against holders of UNEM qualifications awarded before October 20, 2025.The court also restrained GTEC and educational institutions from enforcing the directive against affected graduates and formally quashed the directive, effectively rendering it null and void.The ruling means that holders of UNEM degrees awarded before the specified date cannot be denied appointments, promotions, teaching opportunities or other professional benefits on the basis of the derecognition directive.Despite ruling in favour of the applicants on the substantive issues, the court declined to award damages.Justice Osei noted that while the directive had been unlawful, the applicants had not produced sufficient evidence to show that employers or institutions had fully implemented the directive in a manner that resulted in quantifiable financial losses warranting compensation.Nevertheless, the judgment represents a significant legal setback for GTEC and is expected to have far-reaching implications for the regulation and recognition of foreign academic qualifications in Ghana.