Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar has said that legal education is the foundation of the entire justice system, with its quality having a direct impact on the quality of the Bar and the Bench. He said work had been undertaken to introduce reforms in the field of legal education and every necessary step would continue to be taken to improve the sector.
He was addressing the launch ceremony of the Annual Report of the Directorate of Legal Education of the Pakistan Bar Council here on Thursday. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Munir Malik, Chairman Executive Committee, Pakistan Bar Council; Mr. Haroon Rashid, President, Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan; Barrister Usama Malik, Director, Directorate of Legal Education; Mr. Saqib Gondal, Mr. Rizwan Abbasi and Mr. Hassan Raza Pasha, Members, Pakistan Bar Council; Mr. Asif Irfan, Vice Chairman, Islamabad Bar Council, besides senior members of the legal fraternity and distinguished guests.
The Federal Minister said that after being elected as a member of the Pakistan Bar Council in 2010, he was entrusted with the responsibility of Chairman of the Legal Education Committee, following which work was undertaken to introduce reforms in the field of legal education.
He said that numerous issues relating to law colleges had emerged in the country over the past 15 years. He said that following the shift of legal education from the public sector to the private sector, several institutions had performed well; however, weakening of regulatory ownership had also contributed to the emergence of problems.
Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said that reforms in legal education had been made a priority and several important measures had been taken in this regard. He said evening courses were abolished to curb substandard and ghost admissions in law colleges, while Law-GAT was introduced to improve the standard of students seeking admission to the Bar.
The Federal Minister said that in 2022-23, a decision was taken that every law college would share its students’ data with the Pakistan Bar Council, while degrees of colleges failing to provide the required data would not be registered.
He said a five-year LLB programme was introduced to bring legal education in Pakistan in line with international standards, while the LLB programme was subsequently reduced to four years in view of international requirements and competitiveness.
On the occasion, Chairman Executive Committee, Pakistan Bar Council, Munir Malik, said that the Directorate of Legal Education had been established pursuant to an order of the Supreme Court. He said the Directorate had reduced the five-year legal education course to four years, while meetings had also been held with the Higher Education Commission to improve legal education.
Addressing the ceremony, Barrister Usama Malik, Director, Directorate of Legal Education, said that the reform process was ultimately aimed at better preparing those who would enter the legal profession and serve the justice system in the future. He said the objective of the ongoing reforms was to leave behind a stronger institution and a better system for generations to come.
