Law Minister Chairs High Level Meeting on Legal Education with Chairman Legal Education Committee Pakistan Bar Counci and Legal Education Pakistan
Islamabad : Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar, chaired a high-level meeting with Chairman Legal Education Committee Qalb-e-Hassan Shah and Barrister Usama Malik Director Legal Education Pakistan. Ms. Patricia McKellar, Dean of Undergraduate Laws, University of London, was also present in the meeting.
The agenda focused on raising and enforcing standards in legal education, particularly in institutions offering external law programs. Ms. McKellar emphasized that the University of London ensures complete compliance with all the regulatory standards set forth by the Pakistan Bar Council and the Directorate of Legal Education (DLE).
Chairman Syed Qalb-e-Hassan reiterated that *no international university may offer external law programs in Pakistan without the Pakistan Bar Council’s prior approval.
He criticized institutions replacing examinations with assignments, stressing that such practices violate academic integrity and the same will not be allowed to continue. Barrister Usama Malik further empahised the necessity of curbing such assignment based law degree programs.
Law Minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to maintaining the sanctity of legal education in Pakistan. “ We will not allow degree-selling, open-book formats, and assignment-based systems that undermine the profession,” he said.
Over the past two years, the Legal Education Committee and the Directorate of Legal Education has shut down nearly 50 institutions that failed to comply with the set standards. Under the new regulations, no college will be permitted to affiliate for external law programs without formal approval from the Pakistan Bar Council.
The Minister assured stakeholders that swift action will be taken before the start of the upcoming academic session.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
