"\u003chtml xmlns:o=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office\"\r\nxmlns:w=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word\"\r\nxmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chead\u003e\r\n\u003cmeta http-equiv=Content-Type content=\"text/html; charset=windows-1252\"\u003e\r\n\u003cmeta name=ProgId content=Word.Document\u003e\r\n\u003cmeta name=Generator content=\"Microsoft Word 11\"\u003e\r\n\u003cmeta name=Originator content=\"Microsoft Word 11\"\u003e\r\n\u003clink rel=File-List href=\"2024J6_files/filelist.xml\"\u003e\r\n\u003ctitle\u003eTHE EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO \u003c/title\u003e\r\n\u003c!--[if gte mso 9]\u003e\u003cxml\u003e\r\n \u003co:DocumentProperties\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Author\u003eUser\u003c/o:Author\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Template\u003eNormal\u003c/o:Template\u003e\r\n  \u003co:LastAuthor\u003eUser\u003c/o:LastAuthor\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Revision\u003e2\u003c/o:Revision\u003e\r\n  \u003co:TotalTime\u003e0\u003c/o:TotalTime\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Created\u003e2025-02-17T15:27:00Z\u003c/o:Created\u003e\r\n  \u003co:LastSaved\u003e2025-02-17T15:27:00Z\u003c/o:LastSaved\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Pages\u003e1\u003c/o:Pages\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Words\u003e2355\u003c/o:Words\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Characters\u003e13427\u003c/o:Characters\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Company\u003eHOME\u003c/o:Company\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Lines\u003e111\u003c/o:Lines\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Paragraphs\u003e31\u003c/o:Paragraphs\u003e\r\n  \u003co:CharactersWithSpaces\u003e15751\u003c/o:CharactersWithSpaces\u003e\r\n  \u003co:Version\u003e11.5606\u003c/o:Version\u003e\r\n \u003c/o:DocumentProperties\u003e\r\n\u003c/xml\u003e\u003c![endif]--\u003e\u003c!--[if gte mso 9]\u003e\u003cxml\u003e\r\n \u003cw:WordDocument\u003e\r\n  \u003cw:DoNotHyphenateCaps/\u003e\r\n  \u003cw:PunctuationKerning/\u003e\r\n  \u003cw:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing\u003e6 pt\u003c/w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing\u003e\r\n  \u003cw:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing\u003e6 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Section1\r\n\t{size:8.5in 11.0in;\r\n\tmargin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;\r\n\tmso-header-margin:.5in;\r\n\tmso-footer-margin:.5in;\r\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\r\ndiv.Section1\r\n\t{page:Section1;}\r\n--\u003e\r\n\u003c/style\u003e\r\n\u003c!--[if gte mso 10]\u003e\r\n\u003cstyle\u003e\r\n /* Style Definitions */\r\n table.MsoNormalTable\r\n\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\r\n\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\r\n\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\r\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\r\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\r\n\tmso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;\r\n\tmso-para-margin:0in;\r\n\tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\r\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\r\n\tfont-size:10.0pt;\r\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\r\n\tmso-ansi-language:#0400;\r\n\tmso-fareast-language:#0400;\r\n\tmso-bidi-language:#0400;}\r\n\u003c/style\u003e\r\n\u003c![endif]--\u003e\r\n\u003c/head\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cbody lang=EN-US style=\u0027tab-interval:.5in;text-justify-trim:punctuation\u0027\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=Section1\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal align=center style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:center;\r\nmso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;mso-layout-grid-align:none;\r\ntext-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003eTHE EXISTENTIAL\r\nTHREAT TO \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal align=center style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:center;\r\nmso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;mso-layout-grid-align:none;\r\ntext-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003eTHE PROFESSION OF LAW\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal align=center style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:center;\r\nmso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;mso-layout-grid-align:none;\r\ntext-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003eBy \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal align=center style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:center;\r\nmso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;mso-layout-grid-align:none;\r\ntext-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003eMohammad A. Qayyum\r\nASC, MPBC, \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal align=center style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:center;\r\nmso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;mso-layout-grid-align:none;\r\ntext-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003eChairman Legal\r\nEducation Committee, Punjab Bar Council\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:6.5pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eThe Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan\r\nrecently decried the poor level of drafting being seen in pleadings before the\r\nCourt; His Lordship queried whether drafting is at all being taught in law\r\nschools. The dirty truth of legal education in Pakistan is that most law\r\ncolleges do not hold classes; many do not even have premises, what to speak of\r\nteaching anything. \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:6.5pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eSale and purchase of law degrees,\r\nprocured without attending a law college, is a major threat to the legal\r\nprofession. It is widespread.\u003cspan style=\u0027mso-spacerun:yes\u0027\u003e  \u003c/span\u003eWhat\r\nraises it to the level of an existential threat is its mindboggling scale. The\r\npurpose of this piece is to bring home to all concerned the precise scale of\r\nthe problem, its roots and dynamics and the urgent need to address the same.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eIn a recent 3 year LLB (banned in 2018)\r\n1st year supplementary exam held by a university notorious for facilitating\r\nsuch sale and purchase, around 11,000 students were registered by its registrar\r\nto take the exam. After scrutiny was brought to bear through Court proceedings,\r\nthe University Controller allowed around 6,200 students to sit in the exams.\r\nFIA was tasked by the Supreme Court to examine the documents of the candidates\r\nand according to their last report only 2,200 \u003ci\u003emay\u003c/i\u003e be genuine students.\r\nIn effect, around 9,000 were purchasing degrees; one is staggered by this\r\nnumber when one realizes that in the whole of Punjab last year around 6,500\r\nlicenses were issued. The fake purchasers were more than a year\u0027s entire\r\nenrollment for the entire province in only one supplementary exam of one\r\nuniversity. The size of the entire class is much larger in the university. And\r\nthen realize that this is only one university. Then add at least 9,000 from\r\nPunjab University and affiliated colleges and then add students from many other\r\nuniversities too. We are looking at a flood of students coming in, out of which\r\na significant portion would have not attended a day of law college and would\r\nhave purchased their degrees. \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eWhile analyzing this menace, one is\r\nalmost immediately shocked at the general acceptance of there being nothing\r\nwrong with not attending classes and just sitting in an exam. Parents and students\r\nfind nothing wrong with students never having attended a day of school and\r\nsitting in exams on the basis of fake attendance. They claim to be victims when\r\ndenied the chance to continue in this manner. Typically, the student is in one\r\ncity, the law college is another and the university is at the other end of the\r\nprovince. Many may be in other employment, even government employment, when\r\nthey are enrolled in ghost colleges, not attending classes.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eDelving deeper, examining the economics\r\nof selling fake degrees, its lucrativeness is alarming: the sale of law degrees\r\nis perhaps more profitable and less dangerous than selling cocaine. You can do\r\nthe math. A law college is given 100 seats by the University. Instead it takes\r\non three times that number of students. It gets around Rs. 1.5 to 4 lacs from\r\neach student annually. It comes to around Rs. 4.5 crores for one year. Each\r\ncollege has students in 3-5 years for LLB.\u003cspan style=\u0027mso-spacerun:yes\u0027\u003e \r\n\u003c/span\u003eSo in total, multiply one class by 3-5, the number for years for a\r\ndegree, to get the total earning from students of all years for a law college\r\nin one year. Tens of crores a year are taken from the public at large by ghost\r\nlaw colleges, with little overheads while not teaching at all. So lucrative is\r\nthis business that even several genuine functioning colleges participate in\r\nthis practice. University staff is given a cut to allow all the students to sit\r\nin exams on the basis of fake attendances. Some even own law colleges or\r\nacademies which route such students to them. One university recently even\r\nallowed more than 300 students to sit in its exams from a purported law which\r\nwas not even affiliated with it.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:9.0pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eEven among genuine law colleges, barring\r\na few exceptions, it seems to be the norm not to ensure attendance in classes.\r\nSince attendance is not really considered necessary (it is faked later at the\r\ntime of exams), such colleges do not really feel the need to offer classes.\r\nSince most college do not offer classes, they find there is no need for\r\nclassrooms. Or for teachers. Such colleges do not even exist on ground; most\r\njust maintain front offices. Recently FIA and a University\u0027s own affiliation\r\nCommittee held around 28 previously affiliated colleges to be\r\nghost/non-existent. Each such college had 100 or often illegally more students.\r\nOne wonders how the affiliation committee affiliated the said colleges in the\r\nfirst place. Now when brought under scrutiny, University officers seem to\r\nsuddenly discover that most of their affiliated colleges do not exist at all.\r\nThis indicates the level, rather lack, of scrutiny by universities of their\r\naffiliated colleges. \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:9.0pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eWe at the Punjab Bar Council deal with\r\nthe complaints at the grassroots. We recorded first division being offered upon\r\nextra payment to students by an institution. In tackling these colleges, we\r\nhave found such colleges to be hydra-like, cut one head down and three others\r\nsprout up in its place. The proliferation is exponential. Supreme Court orders\r\none college to shut down. Not only does the owner not shut down the college,\r\nbut opens up multiple more, claims to be a group of colleges, often not\r\naffiliated with anyone. A law college disaffiliated turns into an academy to\r\navoid regulation, such an academy sells degrees through other colleges which\r\nare selling such seats. Or the Academies deal directly with corrupt officers at\r\nuniversities.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:9.0pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eShockingly, there is no scrutiny of who\r\nowns or runs a law college. When one university disaffiliated several colleges\r\nfound guilty in a report before the Supreme Court of massive corruption and\r\nwere facing recommendations of criminal action, another university affiliated\r\nsaid colleges. Another owner recently threatened a regulator on the Supreme\r\nCourt premises that he had only recently been acquitted in a murder case and he\r\nwill deal with all who challenge his illegal actions. Many such law colleges\r\nhave after taking the money from absent students disappeared on them. Most\r\nother which have been disaffiliated from their respective universities, yet\r\ncontinue to manage to extort monies from such students. The brutal murder of\r\nthe secretary Punjab Bar Council traced back to be linked to missing files and\r\nfake enrollments and degrees. It also points to the levels of threats and\r\ndangers in this field. \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:9.0pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eLaw College owners have also effectively\r\nweaponized students against any regulation and all regulators. Bar Councils and\r\nits members have often been targeted on a regular basis through protests,\r\nharassments and threats as they are held responsible for stopping purchase of\r\ndegrees after they were paid for. Even otherwise the mindset of the degree\r\npurchasing students is prone to violence: The person who has not attended a day\r\nof law school does not know how to argue or talk law before a judge. He is of\r\ncourse going to resort to violence or unfair means in court when that is what\r\nhas gotten him where he was throughout his education. Getting a license to\r\npractice is tragically easy for such candidates as things stand.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eIn 2018 the Supreme Court took a great\r\nfirst step in the judgment reported as \u003ci\u003e\u003cu\u003ePakistan Bar Council v. Federation\r\nof Pakistan and others\u003c/u\u003e\u003c/i\u003e (PLD 2018 SC 815) \u003ci\u003einter alia \u003c/i\u003edirecting\r\nmany substandard, non-functioning affiliated colleges to be disaffiliated.\r\nUnfortunately, the effect of the judgment has been nullified legally or\r\nillegally since then. For example, affiliated colleges for one university have\r\ntripled from the level that was found to be excessive by the Supreme Court in\r\n2018. Many law colleges continued to work despite the Court\u0027s clear specific\r\ndirections or have now been re-affiliated. Recently a newly approved university\r\nadvertised a B. Sc Law degree without reportedly having a department for law at\r\nall. The recent parliament on its way out passed bills for establishment of\r\nmany more universities without any real oversight. \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eFrom the above, one should not think that\r\nthis matter is limited only to Punjab. Many of the ostensibly fake degrees are\r\nnow coming from other provinces and even Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It is common\r\nknowledge that purchased degrees from other provinces will even be gotten\r\nverified by the well-connected sellers when Bar Councils come asking. It should\r\nalso not be thought that this cancer is limited only to the field of law; there\r\nis reason to believe that the situation is worse for other subjects. Many of\r\nthe owners of disaffiliated law colleges for fraud continue to run colleges for\r\nother subjects.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eStartlingly, most of this is being done\r\nin plain sight. Several notorious sellers are found across the road from\r\nuniversities. They even advertise on social media, through flyers and\r\nbillboards.\u003cspan style=\u0027mso-spacerun:yes\u0027\u003e  \u003c/span\u003eThe universities have\r\nabsolutely no checks and balances in place despite much vaunted committees and\r\nclaims. In fact, many employees are complicit. In a recent enquiry being\r\nundertaken at the Punjab Bar Council on a complaint, it was shocking to notice\r\nthat not only the complainant was a university employee who was ostensibly\r\nbooking seats, but even the Respondent Law College was owned by a former\r\nemployee, and all were pointing towards other employees of the university for\r\ncorruption. \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:8.5pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eThe sad truth is that only a handful of\r\ncolleges hold classes. False attendance certificates are submitted to the\r\nuniversities, which rarely make an effort to verify. Attendance Registers are\r\nnot maintained or are manufactured if ever required, as before the FIA in a pending\r\ncase. It is possible to parachute into examinations without even studying, even\r\non the eve of exams. University staff facilitate. One owner/principal when\r\napproached by FIA blithely admitted that he does not hold classes; he stated\r\nthat he uploads a handful of video on Youtube and that is enough. He heads the\r\norganization of disaffiliated, mostly fraudulent law colleges seeking their\r\nre-affiliation. Law College owners threaten University officials for\r\naccommodating \u0027fresh\u0027 candidates; one owner heard threatening University\r\nofficials in a voice note stating \u0027\u003ci\u003ehum tau doobay hain sanam, tum ko bhi lay\r\ndoobaingay.\u003c/i\u003e\u0027\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:8.5pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eAnother key to the problem is that\r\nstudents do not feel the need to attend classes because they do not need to and\r\ncan easily pass exams using a couple of guides and a couple of week\u0027s\r\npreparation. So flawed is the examination system for local law degrees that it\r\nis easy to pass with a little common sense, without much effort and without\r\neven having gone to law school. Mr. Anwar Kamal, ASC in his thorough report on\r\nthe problems of legal education filed in the 2018 SC case identified the\r\nexamination system to be the main problem and fixing it to be the main solution\r\nto many problems. He correctly concluded that students will attend classes and\r\ncolleges will hold classes if it is made impossible to pass exams without\r\nhaving studied thoroughly.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:8.5pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eSuccessfully prosecuting such fraudulent\r\nactivities as identified above is almost impossible. Perpetrators have deep\r\npockets and are too elusive. Bar Councils even otherwise do not have the\r\ninfrastructure to effectively prosecute. There are little or no information gathering\r\nmechanisms and Bar Councils only learn about most of the problems through\r\ncomplaints, when matter have already risen to unmanageable levels. There is the\r\nproblem of agency capture in all institutions and levels as well. Bar office\r\nholders are reluctant to act or often have own direct or indirect interests in\r\nsuch colleges. Many consider their future election prospects linked with such\r\ncircles.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:8.5pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eSuch problems as have been pointed out\r\nthrive due to lack of regulation. Frankly, legal education is practically\r\nunregulated. The infrastructure and reach of regulators are very limited at Bar\r\nCouncils. There is also a systemic problem: most of the power to deal with the\r\nUniversities and Colleges lies with the Pakistan Bar Council at Islamabad, but\r\nthe Council is removed by distance from the grassroots. HEC and other\r\nGovernment agencies which may have the best infrastructure do not regulate law\r\nschools. They are even otherwise overtasked.\u003cspan style=\u0027mso-spacerun:yes\u0027\u003e \r\n\u003c/span\u003eEven the recently established Directorate of Legal Education for all its\r\ndiligence will find it difficult to regulate the entire country with its\r\nlimited manpower.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:.1in;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eAll of this is also not to say that this\r\nproblem is only limited to local law degrees. There is evidence that external\r\nprogram LLBs are also headed in this direction. Unregulated law colleges\r\noffering external degrees are mushrooming. Anyone who can afford it, is now\r\nheaded towards a 3 year external degree rather than a local 5 year degree. One\r\nof the problems with said degrees is that they do not teach a word of Pakistani\r\nlaw or for that matter Urdu, the language in which most trial work is done.\r\nSome so-called local law colleges offer 3 year LLB in 1 year, with two years\r\nfaked for the degree to appear three years. New fangled unrecognized degrees\r\nare on offer. You can not qualify for a local LLB due to low FA marks and still\r\nqualify for external LLB through a backdoor. External colleges consider\r\nblatantly violate the LAT requirement stating it does not apply to them when\r\nthe 2018 SC judgment makes it applicable to all law colleges. In fact it is now\r\npossible to obtain certain vaunted international qualifications while sitting\r\nin Pakistan. Reportedly, even the exams can be exempted. But all of this is\r\nperhaps more appropriately be discussed in another article.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:7.0pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eSpare also, in all of this, a thought for\r\nthe plight of genuine students and even genuine law colleges. For them,\r\nuniversities have unjustifiably delayed exams for years, using fake students\r\nand colleges as an excuse. Often times Universities do not hold exams stating\r\nthey need to scrutinize for fake students first and at the same time they\r\nundertake no scrutiny.\u003cspan style=\u0027mso-spacerun:yes\u0027\u003e  \u003c/span\u003eThis leads to an\r\nentire frustrated breed of victim-students. The prime reason for delay seems to\r\nbe that after recent scrutiny many students and law colleges and university\r\nstaff have been caught involved in fraudulent activities. So now they seek to\r\navoid examinations as it would require unwelcome scrutiny: as a consequence the\r\ngenuine students suffer and lose faith.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eThe problems with the legal education system\r\nare many. This piece has focused on but one and the micro-problems surrounding\r\nthe same. The solution lies in a multi-pronged strategy which we are attempting\r\nto implement through the Bar Councils, Pakistan Bar Directorate of Legal\r\nEducation and Legal Education Committees, Higher Education Commission, a SC\r\nappointed monitoring committee, etc. Tracking students data from the time of\r\ntheir registration to remove chance of interpolation is essential. Zero\r\ntolerance and prosecution of fraudulent college owners is vital. Lifetime ban\r\non degree purchasers, sellers and facilitators is a must for deterrence. It\r\nshould bar them from teaching other subjects as well. The solution ultimately\r\nalso lies in capping the number of colleges, licenses and making licensing\r\nentirely merit-based. One should not be able to get a license unless one has\r\nstudied hard. Presently, LAW GAT and SEE LAW exams are, contrary to popular\r\nbelief, easy to pass, with now chances having been increased to seven. All of\r\nthe aforementioned and other strategies for improvement of legal education will\r\nalso be the subject of more detailed and focused future articles. \u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=MsoNormal style=\u0027margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:\r\n.2in;mso-pagination:none;page-break-after:avoid;tab-stops:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align:\r\nnone;text-autospace:none\u0027\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0027letter-spacing:.2pt\u0027\u003e\u003cspan\r\nstyle=\u0027mso-tab-count:1\u0027\u003e       \u003c/span\u003eFor now this piece ends with its warning\r\nof an incoming flood, that if not stemmed, has the potential to wipe away any\r\nand all semblances of professionalism and merit from the profession of law.\u003co:p\u003e\u003c/o:p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003c/body\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003c/html\u003e\r\n"