• Says Law-GAT made mandatory for enrolment as an advocate; steps being taken to discontinue three-year LLB programme
• SC and Nadra sign MoU to strengthen court website, mobile app and digital services

ISLAMABAD: Federal Law Min­ister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Thurs­day conceded that the decline in legal education resulting from the mushroom growth of law colleges had greatly impacted the legal profession, damaging the effectiveness and integrity of the justice system.

“We have made a mockery of legal education during the last two decades. As a result, regulatory oversight diminished, giving rise to uneven academic standards,” the law minister regretted while speaking at the launch of the Biennial Prog­ress Report 2024-26 by the Direc­torate of Legal Educa­tion under the Legal Education Rules 2023.

The law minister recalled that he was elected chairman of the Legal Education Committee when he became a member of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) in 2010. He said he formed a group, spearheaded by the late Asma Jahangir, with the aim of reforming legal education.

Reforms in legal education became necessary after the Supreme Court, through its 2019 judgement, highlighted the urgent need for stronger regulatory oversight and institutional reforms through the implementation of the Legal Education Rules 2015.

One of the causes of “ghost enrolment” in law colleges was the holding of evening LLB classes, the minister said, adding that the Direc­to­rate of Legal Education had imposed a complete ban on evening classes at universities and affiliated law colleges.

Evening programmes had often been associated with limited faculty availability, reduced academic supervision and compromised learning environments, which in turn affected the overall quality of legal education.

The removal of “ghost” law institutions was another important step towards protecting students from enrolling in fraudulent or substandard academic programmes while also strengthening the regulatory framework governing legal education in Pakistan, the minister said.

He said the Law Graduate Assessment Test (Law-GAT), conducted by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), had become a mandatory requirement for enrolment as an advocate, as directed by the Supreme Court.

The biennial progress report also highlighted that the Law-GAT examination would ensure that law graduates possessed the minimum level of legal knowledge and analytical ability required to enter the legal profession.

The major reforms in legal education, the report enumerated, included a revised four-year LLB curriculum designed to keep it responsive to the evolving demands of the legal profession, the wider needs of society and technological advancements.

The reforms also included the introduction of new mandatory subjects in the curriculum, namely Alternative Dispute Resolution, Environmental Law and Cyber Law, in view of the changing requirements of the contemporary legal system and increasing global attention to climate change, environmental governance, data protection, cybercrime, electronic transactions and digital privacy.

Recognising the importance of uniform compliance with the Sup­reme Court’s 2019 directions, the Direc­to­rate of Legal Education also undertook a series of measures aimed at ensuring the complete discontinuation of the three-year LLB program­me across Pakistan, the report said.

SC, Nadra sign MoU

Separately, the Supreme Court and the National Database and Reg­istration Authority (Nadra) entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to formalise and strengthen collaboration on the court’s mo­­bile application and website platform services as part of its continuing technology-enabled reform agenda.

Under the arrangement, Nadra will provide hosting, backend infrastructure, technical support and maintenance for the court’s website and mobile application while facilitating approved upgrades and improvements in accordance with the SC’s requirements.

The digital platforms facilitate public access to cause lists, judgements and other authorised judicial and institutional information, enabling litigants, lawyers and the public to access court information and services more conveniently.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2026