Legal Education

Lawyers as Scientists

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  • Reading time:6 mins read

In Thomas More’s seminal work, Utopia, the travelling philosopher, Raphael Hythloday, recounts a conversation he once had with a lawyer regarding the prevalence of theft in England. The lawyer had been pondering over why people continued to steal when the punishment for theft was as severe as death? Hythloday explains that people resort to theft due to an array of economic and social factors, such as increasing poverty and the ‘enclosure movement’ in England at the time. He states that until these underlying issues are resolved, people will continue to steal despite the harshness of the punishment. Whenever I teach Utopia, I encourage my students to understand from this exchange that law does not exist independent of the social and economic framework of a country. It can only be understood within that framework. To try to cure the ills of society by simply pronouncing to “make more laws” is to expect from law far greater things than it can achieve. A society’s problems must be examined through a more critical lens before embarking on crafting laws to cure them. For example, upon the death of Salahuddin Ayubi in police custody, a debate on curbing police torture was ignited. One of the most popular solutions to the problem of police torture being proposed is that we need a law that specifically deals with this issue. But such a law may not be the solution people are looking for. Consider this: torture is already prohibited under our Constitution. While a new law may…

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A 3-D approach to reform of legal education

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  • Post category:Law
  • Reading time:4 mins read

Good governance and rule of law cannot be established unless we produce ‘ready for market’ law graduates, who, in the long run, have to perform a role as legal practitioners, judges, and parliamentarians. Since the inception of Pakistan, the legal education sector has been rather inadequate. It is not surprising therefore that justice and rule of law are not in a good shape. The law schools have not been able to produce the kind of graduates who can resolve the problems in the dispensation of justice in Pakistan. There have been a number of efforts recently on the part of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and the Pakistan Bar Council to raise the standards of legal education in the country. The Supreme Court of Pakistan too has nudged the legal education sector but the approach has been 2-D and the main stakeholders – universities – have not been heard at all. A 3-D approach involving universities and introducing reforms in the legal education sector would be very fruitful. The HEC would do a big favour to future generations by increasing funding for law schools. Law school teachers must focus on adopting the latest teaching methodologies. Using technology tools for teaching law, mooting and above all law clinics to produce ready-for-market advocates are the need of the times in Pakistan. Centralized training for law professors could be a good intervention. The HEC can play the role of a facilitator. The country does not have a culture of legal research. There…

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Will Pakistani Lawyers Become Extinct In The Age Of Automation?

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  • Reading time:9 mins read

Will Pakistani Lawyers Become Extinct in the Age of Automation? “With a new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” Eleanor Roosevelt said this a long time ago, tempting me all these decades later to talk about it. These strengths and thoughts which have shaped the past and polished it further into the times we are witnessing today have led us into an era where we have become more dependent than ever on technology. The human mind, despite all its achievements, has still not come to a point where it says ‘this is it’. One of the reasons for this has also been explained in a study conducted by Ellen Galinsky where he asks children, “If you were granted one wish and you only have one wish that could change the way your mothers or fathers work affects your life, what would that wish be?” The most popular answer? They wished their parents were “less stressed and less tired”. According to the Webster Dictionary, ‘automation’ is a technique for making a process or system operate automatically, without the need for a human being to be there to control or operate it. Automation is not confined to a specific area of technology, rather it relates to a vast area. As a law student, the relation between automation and legal professionals and their work naturally fascinates me. To stay up-to-date and remain relevant in the race for professional development and progression, efficiency is crucial. Automation is one such process which is needed to achieve this efficiency…

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