IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN 
(Appellate Jurisdiction) 
 
PRESENT: 
MR. JUSTICE TASSADUQ HUSSAIN JILLANI 
MR. JUSTICE NASIR-UL-MULK 
MR. JUSTICE SYED JAMSHED ALI 
 
Constitution Petition No. 9 of 2005 
 
 
Pakistan Bar Council  
 
 
 
 
Petitioner 
 
VERSUS 
 
The Federal Government & others 
 
 
Respondents 
 
 
For the Petitioner: 
Mr. Rasheed A. Rizvi, ASC. 
 
Mr. Muhammad Arshad, Secy, 
Pakistan Bar Council. 
 
Mr. M.A. Zaidi, A.O.R. 
 
For respondent No.1: 
Ms. Nahida Mehboob Elahi, DAG. 
 
For respondent No.2: 
Mr. Muhammad Javed Khan, D.G. 
Higher Education Commission. 
 
For respondent No.3: 
Mr. Aftab Iqbal Ch, Advocate General 
Punjab. 
 
Ch Muhammad Hussain, Addl. A.G. 
Punjab. 
 
Raja Saeed Akram, AAG, Punjab. 
 
For Respondent No.4 
Mr. Abbas Ali, Addl. A.G. Sindh. 
 
For Respondent No.5 
Sardar Shoukat Hayat, Addl. A.G. 
NWFP. 
 
For Respondent No.6 
Mr. Mehmood Raza, AAG, Balochistan. 
 
For Respondent No.7 
Mr. M. Farooq Qureshi Chishti, ASC. 
 
For Respondent No.8 
Mr. Muhammad Rafique Rajwara, 
ASC. 
 
For Respondent No.9 
Mr. Wasim ud Din Khattak, ASC. 
 
For Respondent No.10-11 
Nemo 
 
For Supreme Court Bar Association: 
Mr. Hashmat Ali Habib, ASC. 
 
 
Date of hearing: 
 
 
 
16.11.2006 
 
 
 
 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
2
JUDGMENT 
 
 
 
Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, J.-       Through this 
petition under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic 
of Pakistan, the Pakistan Bar Council has sought a direction that the 
respondents Federal Government, the Higher Education Commission, 
all the Provincial Governments and the universities be directed to 
adopt and implement the “Affiliation of Law Colleges Rules”, framed 
by the Pakistan Bar Council and further that no Charter or N.O.C. be 
issued to any institution, college or individual to establish law college 
without compliance of the afore-referred Rules. 
2. 
The learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Rasheed A. 
Rizvi, who was the Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council when 
this petition was filed, in support of this petition, submitted that there 
has been a steady decline in the quality of legal education in Pakistan 
on account of mushroom growth of law colleges, lack of adequate 
facilities, absence of qualified faculty and absence of regulatory 
authority to ensure a certain qualitative standard. He contended that 
the goal of access to justice and its dispensation cannot be realized 
without a proper and organized legal education system. With a view 
to ensuring a quality legal education and to discourage the growth of 
substandard law colleges, the Pakistan Bar Council called upon its 
Legal Education Committee to draft Rules for granting recognition and 
affiliation to the law colleges by the universities. The Legal Education 
Committee, 
after 
thorough 
deliberations, 
submitted 
its 
recommendations which were approved by the Pakistan Bar Council 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
3
in its 147th meeting held on 26.06.2004 a copy of which has been 
attached with this petition. Before approval by the Pakistan Bar 
Council, he added, the Legal Education Committee had a joint sitting 
with the representatives of the Provincial Bar Councils, several 
universities imparting legal education and the officials of the Higher 
Education Commission on 19.06.2004 who unanimously approved 
these rules. The elaborate exercise carried out for framing these 
Rules reflects a concerted effort of all the stakeholders of the legal 
education system to revamp the system to ensure qualitative 
improvement. The objective being onerous and the issue being of 
general public interest, he lastly submitted, warrants this Court’s 
indulgence under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. 
3. 
Mrs. Nahida Mehboob Elahi, Deputy Attorney General, 
submitted on behalf of learned Attorney General for Pakistan that the 
Federal Government has examined the Rules framed by the Pakistan 
Bar Council and is of the view that those are beneficial and have been 
framed with a view to improving the standards of legal education. In 
these circumstances, the Federal Government not only supports the 
petition but would ensure that universities and its affiliated colleges 
falling within the domain of the Federal Government adhere to these 
Rules while granting recognition to law colleges. 
4. 
The learned Advocate General Punjab also supported the 
petition and submitted that all the universities should bring their 
Affiliation Rules in conformity with these Rules. He stated that the 
Government of Punjab would ensure that the universities, while 
dealing with law colleges, strictly adhere to these Rules. 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
4
5. 
The learned Additional Advocates General N.W.F.P., 
Sindh and Balochistan also supported the petition. 
6. 
The learned counsel appearing for the University of 
Punjab submitted that the Affiliation Rules of the University of Punjab 
are similar to the one framed by the Pakistan Bar Council. He added 
that the University shall adopt these Rules in addition to the existing 
Affiliation Rules insofar as law colleges are concerned. 
7. 
The Additional Registrar appearing for the University of 
Balochistan submitted that the University has no objection if this 
petition is allowed. The Bahauddin Zikriya University, Multan also filed 
a conceding statement and did not join issue to the acceptance of 
this petition. 
8. 
We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and 
have given anxious consideration to the submissions made. 
9. 
Pakistan Bar Council, the petitioner, is the apex 
professional elected body of lawyers established under the Legal 
Practitioners & Bar Councils Act, 1973 [hereinafter referred to as 
“Act”]. One of its primary functions under this Act is “to promote legal 
education and prescribe standards of such education in consultation 
with the universities in Pakistan and the Provincial Bar Councils”. 
[Section 13(j)] It has been empowered to make rules to carry out its 
functions which include rules to provide for, “the standards of legal 
education to be observed by the universities in Pakistan and the 
inspection of universities for that purpose.” [Section 55(q)]. In the 
exercise of its function, the Pakistan Bar Council did frame the Bar 
Council Legal Education Rules, 1978, wherein it issued guidelines to 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
5
law universities and law colleges for admission in LL.B course, for 
student-teacher ratio in law colleges, for duration of the LL.B. 
courses, for qualification of a part time teacher, for provision of 
library in a law college, the criterion of pass percentage in the law 
examination, for adequate representation of the Pakistan Bar Council 
on the Board of Studies, Faculties of Law, Board of Governors and 
other organizations set up for governing the law colleges and other 
institutions of law and for a provision of inspection of law colleges by 
a team to be appointed by the Pakistan Bar Council. The framing of 
“Affiliation of Law Colleges Rules” and the prayer that the 
respondents be directed to adhere to those rules is an exercise of a 
similar kind. 
10. 
The concern expressed by the Pakistan Bar Council about 
the declining standards of legal education is a matter of serious 
consideration. The petitioner-Council laments that, “there is no check 
either from the Government or HEC to put restrain on the growth of 
substandard law colleges with no facilities of good Lecturers, 
Professors and Libraries. It has been noted with serious concern that 
for the last 4/5 years, respondent No.1, the Federal Government as 
well as Provincial Governments have granted Charters to individuals 
for establishing colleges and Universities, in private sector, who have 
also entered in the field of legal education with no experience of legal 
education.” Contending that the issue mooted in the petition is “a 
question of public importance”, the petitioner implored this Court to 
intervene as according to it, “this is causing deterioration in the legal 
profession and at the same time adversely affecting Judicial System 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
6
of this country, it will be in the public interest that a guideline should 
be provided by this Hon’ble Court to various institutions including 
Universities imparting legal education in the country to improve their 
system and to put restrain on establishing law colleges without proper 
infrastructure.” 
11. 
The twin objectives of dispensation of justice and 
enforcement of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution 
cannot be achieved without a strong and conscientious judiciary and 
independent and competent Bar. No wonder the United Nations 
Instrument on Legal Profession stipulates that, “independent legal 
profession is a sine qua non for any system of protection of human 
rights and fundamental freedoms.” The Bar brings issues to the Court 
and the quality of justice delivered partly depends upon the quality of 
assistance rendered. Besides that while rendering advice to his client, 
a lawyer has not only to keep the relevant law in mind but also other 
considerations such as moral, economic, social or political, as the case 
may be, and then it is from the Bar that the Bench is constituted. The 
Bar and the process of dispensation of justice have a symbiotic 
relationship. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer aptly observed while speaking 
on the responsibility of the Bar that,  
“Lawyering like justicing rises and falls in reputation and 
esteem according as they serve the great purpose of 
delivering justice to the people. When they fail what 
befalls them i.e. best expressed in Shakespeare’s words 
‘Dick, the first thing we do. Let’s kill all the lawyers.” 
 
The quality of the Bar and the assistance it renders to the courts to a 
great extent depends on the legal education. The Bar in general and 
the Pakistan Bar Council in particular therefore have awesome 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
7
responsibility to improve the quality of legal education because it is 
the possession of a degree of law which is a sufficient academic 
qualification for entering the Bar. The petition in hand therefore raises 
a question of public importance which has a great bearing on the 
justice system and the enforcement of fundamental rights in the 
country. 
12. 
It is a matter of common knowledge that there has been 
a mushroom growth of substandard law colleges lacking in 
infrastructural facilities and quality legal education. There is no 
eligibility criteria for admission and any person having done his 
graduation with minimum marks required for passing can get 
admission in those colleges. Dropouts from other courses find it 
easier to join a law course. The quality of faculty in most of the law 
colleges leaves much to be desired. These colleges have only part 
time lecturers and barring a few honourable exceptions, most of them 
do not have any commitment to the cause of legal education. Without 
a proper faculty, quality legal education is not possible. The law 
teachers should be well-trained, well-paid and committed to the 
cause. It has also been noted that colleges enroll students in great 
numbers but do not provide for adequate class rooms and even the 
student-teacher ratio tends to be imbalanced. This is so because the 
colleges are established more for commercial considerations rather 
than academic or to impart genuine legal education. The lack of 
commitment, loose administration and lack of requisite facilities has 
led to absenteeism in law colleges. Students get themselves enrolled, 
do not attend classes, at times they live or work at miles away from 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
8
their respective colleges where they are formally enrolled. They get 
themselves marked present through proxies. The colleges do not 
discourage this because it brings them money. Courses of study 
prescribed by the university are paid lip service. Neither there is any 
indepth study of the subjects included in the curriculum nor any 
stress is laid on moral issues and professional ethics. Such students 
have hardly any commitment to scholaristic pursuits and when the 
exams approach, they prepare for the same through get-through 
guides. Law examinations held by universities are mere test of 
memory and students manage to pass by cramming. Colleges mostly 
have become business centres and in the name of legal education, it 
is a profit making industry that they are running. It is these centres 
which produce law graduates, who are called to the Bar, some 
practice, some join judiciary at the district level, some adorn the 
constitutional courts and some become law-makers.  
13. 
The poor quality of legal education in the country is 
taking its toll on the Bench, the Bar and ultimately the quality of 
justice. The Provincial Public Service Commissions, while engaged in 
recruitment to the posts of civil judges have frequently regretted the 
deteriorating academic standards of law graduates competing for the 
posts. Every year thousands of law graduates are getting added to 
the Bar. Some are products of colleges, having a certain credibility of 
imparting quality education whereas many come from colleges where 
the standard is below average. The products of the latter kind neither 
have the requisite knowledge of law nor any commitment to 
professional ethics. The apprenticeship training, prescribed under the 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
9
Bar Council Rules is taken as a formality. The good old tradition of a 
senior training the junior in court room skills and ethics has given way 
to a new culture, where a young entrant is on his own sooner than is 
appropriate i.e. before he has legal skills or is fully equipped to 
properly advice the client and assist the Court. This results in 
situations which do not bring good name to the profession. There is a 
tendency to get engaged in non-professional pursuits. Bar has a 
proud legacy of promoting rule of law, fundamental rights, democracy 
and of standing up for just causes. But sometimes local Bars go on 
strike over issues which are hardly institutional. This disturbs the 
working of courts and adversely affects the administration of justice. 
Courts cannot function, cases are adjourned to dates which are fixed 
after months and the clients go back home frustrated. Taking a 
collective stand over just causes is one thing but going on a strike is 
something else. The latter course paralyzes the administration of 
justice. Bar is a global fraternity. There is no concept of self employed 
professionals going on strike in most countries of the world. 
14. 
Legal education should not only cater for those students 
who study to pursue law as a career but should also provide 
instructional and research facilities to those who aim at becoming 
researchers, academicians or critics in domain of law. The discipline 
of law encompasses almost every dimension of social life. Before 
students join a professional law course, they need to have a 
multidisciplinary academic base. They got to have sound language 
skills for reading, writing and communication. The study of English 
language is of particular importance. Because it is predominantly the 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
10
court language in the country and is the most widely spoken 
language in the world. Being rich in content, it determines the 
frontiers of one’s knowledge. Unfortunately over the last few decades 
the quality of education in colleges has also declined. To strengthen 
the academic base of a potential law graduate, there is a dire need to 
improve the standard and quality of the qualifying degree for 
admission in the Bachelor’s law course. The scheme to make the law 
degree a five year course after intermediate is step in the right 
direction. Those entrusted with framing the law degree course may 
examine its desirability. 
15. 
There is by now a broad consensus among those 
concerned with legal education around the world that the issue needs 
to be tackled at three stages. Those are:- 
(i) 
The academic stage. 
(ii) 
The 
professional 
stage 
comprising 
both 
institutional training and practical training. 
(iii) 
Continuing legal education. 
16. 
While dilating on the academic stage in the legal 
education, law as subject has to be comprehended in proper 
perspective with particular reference to socio-economic and political 
dynamics which play a role in the evolution of law. Law is not merely 
a set of enactments churned out by the Legislature or study of a 
professional skills limited to courts and lawyers. Law is a social 
science of a wider canvas. It is a study of the relationship between 
the individual and society, between the individual and an institution, 
between the State and the institution, the interaction between the 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
11
institutions and the State and at a global level inter se relationship 
between the States. The discipline of law reflects the societal 
conflicts, the societal hopes and the social ethos. Law is a social 
organism which has to keep pace with the socio-economic, political 
and technological changes. The contemporary age has witnessed 
unprecedented advancement in science and technology which has 
affected human lives at individual, national and transnational 
domains. We live in an age of globalization---an age where distances 
have 
shrunk, 
International 
trade 
has 
multiplied 
manifold, 
multinationals impinge on state sovereignty, wonders of information 
technology have engendered hypes and hope, pleasure and pain, 
where on account of the paradoxical potential of nuclear technology, 
the non-State actors are brandishing weapons of mass destruction 
and the humankind is threatened by the use of some of its own 
inventions. The ever-increasing global warming poses a serious threat 
to ecosystem. These concerns among others call for a deeper, 
compassionate and purposive study of the charter and the law which 
regulate the affairs of the individuals and the institutions and the 
States inter se. 
17. 
At the national level, the country has waded through 
vicissitudes---the geographical contours are no longer the ones that 
were carved out in 1947. We have had periods of constitutional 
deviation and more than one constitutional dispensations. These 
developments have affected the institutional growth and the 
constitutional law in the country. The year 2006 has been the 50th 
anniversary year of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The Court 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
12
including the High Courts have contributed their bit towards the 
promotion 
of 
fundamental 
rights 
through 
the 
exercise 
of 
constitutional jurisdiction. The Supreme Court in its attempt to ensure 
substantive justice have given an extended meaning to the 
fundamental right of right to life (Article 9 of the Constitution). The 
Court held that “life has a larger concept which includes the right of 
enjoyment of life, maintaining adequate level of living for full 
enjoyment of freedom and rights.” [The Employees of the Pakistan 
Law Commission Islamabad v. Ministry of Works (1994 SCMR 1548)]. 
To ensure pollution free environment, the court declared that any 
action which may create hazards of life will be encroachment on 
personal rights to enjoy the life according to law. [Ms. Shehla Zia v. 
WAPDA (PLD 1994 SC 693)]. The conviction by a military court not 
empowered to try under the law was held to be violative of Article 9 
of the Constitution. [Sh Liaquat Hussain v. Federation of Pakistan 
(PLD 1999 SC 504)]. The Court annulled the privatization of Pakistan 
Steel Mills Corporation as the process lacked transparency and was 
found to be against public policy and national interest. [Watan Party 
v. Federation of Pakistan (PLD 2006 SC 697)]. In yet another case, 
the Court upheld the institutional authority, “……..Because institutions 
play a vital role in civilizing a people and in their onward march 
towards socio-economic and political progress. In the comity of 
nations the credibility and progress of a country is measured by the 
strength of its institutions. A nation which fails to respect the 
institutions falls in grace, decays, splits and is condemned in history. 
A society bereft of stable institutions would be at odds with itself.” 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
13
[Pakistan Medical & Dental Council v. Ziauddin Medical University & 
others (Civil Appeal No. 2206/2005). 
18. 
The Court by invoking the concept of public interest 
litigation has brought solace to the under privileged strata of the 
society. Reiterating the concept of the basic structure doctrine, it 
attempted to lay down foundations of constitutional and political 
stability. While some of the judgments have been landmarks, others 
have been subject of critical comment. The courts after all are man 
made institutions and are therefore fallible. The constitutional 
challenges faced by the country, the issues brought before the courts 
and judicial activism reflected in the judgments have increased the 
challenge both of the Bench and the Bar manifolds. The challenges 
are both moral and intellectual. They call for a deeper study of the 
issues, various dimensions, able assistance by the Bar and qualitative 
and bold handling by the Bench. These objectives can only be 
achieved if the study of law at our law schools is rich in content, more 
ethical and purposive in approach and caters for providing 
institutional and practical training as well. 
19. 
A graduate joining the law professional course should 
have an objective world view which can only be realized if the course 
content is revamped both at the graduate and L.L.B levels. The issues 
confronting the people at national level and the humankind at large 
warrant serious thought on what to study to attain a dignified place in 
the comity of nations, to develop and to live in peace in a world 
characterized by multifaceted diversities. Towards that end many 
questions need to be addressed. Some of those could be: are the 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
14
colleges offering courses to prepare the Graduates to comprehend, 
confront and resolve the issues of contemporary age? Is the course 
content wide enough to include the social sciences which have a 
bearing on the socio-political dynamics or have the courses been 
suitably amended in response to the growing interdependence of 
States in the wake of globalization? Does it include the recent 
developments in International Law of Arbitration, Alternate Dispute 
Resolution 
Mechanisms, 
Intellectual 
Property 
and 
computer 
technology? Has the concept of sustainable development based on 
the intragenerational, intergenerational and inter-species justice spelt 
out in the “Earth Chapter”, been introduced in courses on 
environmental law? In a world divided by faiths and in the wake of 
growing misconception of Islam, does the study of Islamic Law 
include its pluralistic dimension? Has the institution of “Ijtihad” been 
accorded a dynamic construction to play its role in the evolution of 
law in modern age? Has the study of law been made as 
comprehensive and multi-disciplinary as has been done in some of 
the renowned universities and law schools abroad? These questions 
may not be exhaustive. The aim should be to revise the courses in 
accord with our domestic requirements and international obligations. 
20. 
The need for professional and continuing legal education 
cannot be over-emphasized. Lawyers’ education is a continuing 
process. Be it through law colleges, academic pursuits, trial 
practice/clinical 
courts, 
training 
for 
young 
lawyers 
through 
apprenticeship or other modes adopted in this regard. The Chief 
Justice of U.S.A. was highlighting this aspect of the legal education 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
15
when while addressing the American College of Trial Lawyers, District 
of Columbia, he said, “………in some jurisdictions up to half of the 
lawyers who appear in courts are so poorly trained that they are not 
properly performing their job and that their manners and their 
professional performance, their professional ethics offend a great 
many people. They are engaging in on-the-job training at the 
expense of their clients’ interests and the public.” 
21. 
For what has been discussed above and on account of 
the fair stand taken by the respondents, we are persuaded to allow 
this petition and direct as under:- 
(i) 
The Pakistan Bar Council, is the apex professional 
elected body of lawyers established under the 
Legal Practitioner & Bar Councils Act, 1973. One of 
its primary functions under this Act is “to promote 
legal education and prescribe standards of such 
education in consultation with the universities in 
Pakistan and the Provincial Bar Councils”. [Section 
13(j)] It has been empowered to make rules to 
carry out its functions which include rules to 
provide for, “the standards of legal education to be 
observed by the universities in Pakistan and the 
inspection of universities for that purpose.” 
(ii) 
The Affiliation of Law Colleges Rules framed by the 
Pakistan Bar Council and any rule added or 
amended from time to time by it are essential to 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
16
ensure that the law schools/colleges impart 
uniform quality legal education. 
(iii) 
The rules framed by the Pakistan Bar Council shall 
be read into the rules framed by any Pakistani 
university and in case of conflict former rules shall 
have primacy. 
(iv) 
The rules do not envisage any concept of 
provisional affiliation. However, if any enactment, 
rules or regulation made thereunder provide for 
provisional affiliation, the same shall not extend 
beyond the period of one year and thereafter the 
said college shall stop admitting students for a law 
degree.  
(v) 
With a view to improve and update the syllabus 
prescribed for a professional degree in law, we are 
persuaded to appoint a 5-Member Committee to be 
headed by Justice (R) Nasir Aslam Zahid, former 
Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to 
examine the existing courses of law prescribed by 
the universities for obtaining the professional 
degree and to suggest suitable proposals, inter 
alia, in the light of the observations made by this 
Court. The Committee shall submit its report within 
six months to the Pakistan Law Commission for 
consideration. 
The 
other 
members 
of 
the 
Committee shall be as under:- 
Constitution Petition No.9 of 2005 
 
 
 
17
(a) 
The Vice Chairman, Pakistan Bar Council 
(Ex officio). 
 
(b) 
Prof. 
Ghafoor 
Ahmad, 
former 
Vice 
Chancellor 
Peshawar 
University 
and 
Principal Khyber Medical College. 
 
(c) 
Mr. Hamayun Ehsan, Principal Pakistan 
Law College, Lahore. 
 
(d) 
Mr. Mansoor Ali Shah, Advocate Supreme 
Court of Pakistan. 
 
(e) 
Two members to be nominated by the 
Chairman Higher Education Commission 
having the requisite academic background. 
 
(vi) 
A copy of this judgment shall be sent to all the 
Vice Chancellors of the universities in Pakistan, 
Chairman Higher Education Commission, the 
Federal Law Secretary and to the Secretary 
Pakistan 
Law 
Commission, 
Islamabad 
for 
information and necessary compliance. 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
ISLAMABAD, THE 
November 16,2006 
khuram/* 
 
