Pakistan’s law minister says legal education has declined
In Islamabad, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the unchecked growth in the number of law colleges and the declining quality of education have harmed the legal profession, as well as the effectiveness and integrity of the justice system. This was reported by Dawn.
The minister spoke at the presentation of a two-year progress report for 2024–2026 prepared by the Directorate of Legal Education in accordance with the Legal Education Rules 2023. According to him, regulatory oversight has weakened over the past two decades, resulting in uneven academic standards.
Restrictions for law colleges
Tarar described evening LLB programs as one of the reasons for so-called fictitious student enrollment at law colleges. He said that the Directorate of Legal Education has completely banned evening classes at universities and affiliated law colleges.
As the publication notes, evening programs were often associated with a limited number of teachers, weaker academic oversight, and inadequate learning conditions, which affected the quality of legal education. The minister also called eliminating “fictitious” legal institutions an important step to protect students from fraudulent or low-quality educational programs.
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New requirements and digital court services
The Law Graduate Assessment Test, or Law-GAT, administered by Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission, has become a mandatory requirement for registration as a lawyer, Tarar said. This requirement was established by a decision of Pakistan’s Supreme Court. The report states that the examination is intended to confirm graduates’ minimum level of legal knowledge and analytical abilities.
Among the reforms named in the report are an updated four-year LLB program and the introduction of mandatory courses in alternative dispute resolution, environmental law, and cyber law. The Directorate is also taking measures to completely discontinue the three-year LLB program in the country in line with the Supreme Court’s 2019 guidelines.
Separately, Pakistan’s Supreme Court and the National Database and Registration Authority, Nadra, signed a memorandum of cooperation on the court’s mobile application and website. Nadra will provide hosting, backend infrastructure, technical support, and maintenance for platforms through which the public, parties to court proceedings, and lawyers can access hearing lists, decisions, and other official information.
