KNUST, the second public university to be established in Ghana, was designed to provide education, for pure scientists and technologists. At the initial stages the courses offered at degree level were those that would best serve the needs of those target groups. However, since graduates of the University must have to function in society, the Faculty of Social Sciences was established to offer courses in the liberal arts and social sciences. In early1970, a Department of Law was established in the Faculty of Social Sciences to teach Land Law as a ‘core’ subject in the BSc Land Economy and Management programme. Not long afterwards combined honours degrees of Economics/Law, Sociology/Law, Geography/Law etc were developed. The Department of Law also taught law courses in other Faculties of the University.

In 2002, the University decided that the Social Sciences Faculty must undergo modern transformation, allowing a Faculty of Law to emerge. In April 2003 then, the Council of KNUST approved a 4-year LLB programme. The programme took off on Monday, August 18, 2003 with fifty – seven (57) pioneer students, twelve (12) lecturers and five (5) administrative and support staff, under the leadership of the Founding Dean, Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Hanson Ofori Amankwah. The programme was officially inaugurated on March 3, 2004 in a grand ceremony attended by various dignitaries including the Chancellor of the university, Otumfour Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, the then Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kwesi Akwansah Andam, the then Chief Justice of Ghana, His Lordship Justice George Kingsley Acquah, the then Attorney General, the Judicial Secretary, Dean, University of Ghana School of Law, President of the Ghana Bar Association, judges, lawyers, the university community, business men and members of the general public. The occasion also marked the opening of the Law Library, then housed at the main University Library (Prempeh II Library). The library was named after Chief Justice Sir Kobina Arku Korsah, the first Ghanaian Chief Justice of Ghana. 

At the start of the 2006/2007 academic year, the faculty moved to its present location comprised of a three (3) storey administration/classroom block, the Sir Arku Korsah Library and an Auditorium. The main administration/classroom block was named after Prof. Kwesi Akwansah Andam, the visionary in whose administration, as Vice Chancellor, the Faculty of Law was established. Over the years the curriculum of the Faculty’s LLB programme was expanded to include innovative courses, particularly in the area of science and technology, in response to the requirements of training world class lawyers. The faculty later got accredited in 2015 and 2019 respectively to run Master of Laws (LLM) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Law programmes.

The Faculty of Law, KNUST has risen to become a leader in excellence and innovation; training very eminent lawyers, jurists and legal academics in addition to achieving many great feats in legal education. On the national, regional and global fronts, the faculty has made very indelible marks in mooting. Successive Moot Teams of the Faculty have consistently won several laurels at various moot court competitions including the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the All-African Human Rights Moot Court competition and the Georgina T. Wood Moot Court competition which is the brainchild of the Faculty of Law, KNUST.

Since the Call to the Ghana Bar, in October 2008, of its first batch of graduates, year after year, alumni of the faculty have won several awards at the Call to the Bar at the Ghana School of Law including the prestigious John Mensah Sarbah award, for the overall best student of the graduating class. A number of alumni of the faculty have returned to teach on the program. At present, more than 50% of the faculty’s full-time teaching staff are alumni of the faculty. Others are also serving in various capacities and are making positive impact around the world.