Restructuring of Legal Education:

The HEC has realized that it is necessary to streamline and transform the legal education in
Pakistan. Under the leadership of its Chairman, HEC has taken concrete steps to regulate the legal education. In this connection a project has been approved whereby the HEC will set up three Law Universities in Pakistan. Forty LL.M./Ph.D. scholarships have been notified in the national press which will be awarded to young law graduates who will be inducted as faculty-members in these universities. Thus a comprehensive and sustainable scheme has been prepared to reform and modernize the legal education in Pakistan.
The Law and Justice Commission has also announced a substantial grant specifically for the
improvement and innovative approaches in the field of Legal Education under its ‘Access to Justice’ project. It is submitted that the grant meant for Legal Education may be transferred to the HEC to strengthen its Legal Education Project.
Some suggestions:
Higher education systems everywhere are in a constant state of change. In particular, the changes in the socio-economic context caused by the impact of globalization have inevitably led to changes in the higher education sector. To check the declining standards of legal education critical actions are required by all concerned.
1. Setting up of a Legal Education Reform Commission.
The setting up of a ‘Legal Education Reform Commission’ is absolutely necessary because it
will scrutinize the functioning of law schools and examine all aspects of legal education
including the contemporary trends in other countries. The recommendations of the commission
may be placed before all stakeholders and consensus may be developed for reforms in legal
education.
2. Removal of Dual Control
Currently the HEC, PBC, the universities and various boards of governors jointly administer and
control the legal education. The PBC, being a elected body, is not in a position to prescribe
standards of legal education, whether alone or in consultation with universities. Legal education
is an academic subject and the universities must be given exclusive authorization to prescribe
various courses with the support of the HEC. It is proposed that all Law Faculties and Law
Colleges jointly form a curriculum review committee comprising of the senior members of their
respective Boards of Studies/Boards of Faculties. This will be a modified form of the existing
NCRC functioning under the HEC. The new NCRC will be a body that may meet annually under
the HEC, or without the HEC, and deliberate upon new schemes/ techniques to meet the needs
of legal profession and the market. The committee may prescribe minimal core courses for all
law students. The rest may be left to the local needs and requirements of the concerned
university. The power to recognize law degrees may still continue to be vested in the PBC.
3. A Five-Year Consolidated Law Degree Programme.
A multidisciplinary approach to a law degree is much needed. Thus, apart from the major
subjects in law, a student should be required to take supportive minors of sociology, economics,
logic, political science, history of philosophy etc. This interdisciplinary approach will certainly
improve the standards of legal education and better law graduates will be able to meet market
requirements. The HEC has already committed to the PBC to introduce a consolidated fiveyears
Law degree programme after twelve years of education by the year 2008.
4. Better Employment Prospects
The improvement of Legal Education is dependent on better terms and conditions of service for
law teachers. The universities and other law colleges offer inadequate salary packages to law
teachers as legal education is being treated as par with other disciplines. However, law is a
professional subject in great demand, and cannot be treated at par with other sub-sectors or
disciplines of education. Thus it may be possible to get a good chemist, botanist, historian or a
political scientist with the present salary package but it is extremely difficult to employ a bright
person as law teacher at the same package. The result is that there is a constant erosion in this
area. Realizing this aspect of legal education, the S.A. Rehman Commission (1958-59)
proposed an attractive package for law teachers. It is unfortunate that this aspect of the
recommendation was always ignored not only by the policy-makers but also by the PBC.

source: www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/subsites/scp50/Articles/6/1.pdf