PESHAWAR, Nov 24: Participants in a workshop on Wednesday highlighted the importance of reforms in legal education, and said lawyers should be aware of social issues and legal problems faced by the vulnerable groups in society , including women and children.
A legal reforms specialist of the Asian Development Bank, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, informed the workshop that the bank's funded-pilot project of Legal Clinic Programme (LCP) had been started in Peshawar for sensitising lawyers. It would also be replicated in other provinces, he added.
The programme, which is a component of the Access to Justice Programme, would help in reforming the legal education, he added. The workshop on "Curriculum Development for the Legal Clinic Programme" was organised at the Institute of Legal Studies (ILS).
The pilot project is funded by the ADB and the Aurat Foundation has been executing the programme in Peshawar. The curriculum for the clinic is developed by the ILS. Supreme Court Bar Association president Qazi Muhammad Jamil stated that there was need for developing skills of the lawyers.
He stated that lawyers in the making should be made conscious of ethics and their duties. Mr Jamil, who is also chairman of the board of directors of the ILS, said that so far the Access to Justice Programme was not focused on lawyers and the LCP was the first step in that direction. He added that initially the AJP was only focused on judiciary.
"Lawyers help a person in getting justice and it is important that they will be sensitised about social issues," Mr Jamil added. Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said reforms in legal education were part of the AJP.
He added that in the AJP, the NWFP had always taken lead on other provinces and now the pilot project of the LCP had also been started here with the support of the Aurat Foundation and ILS.
Advocate Ali Jamil Qazi said that initially the ILS had started the legal clinic for lawyers to polish their skills. Explaining the concept behind the legal clinic, he said lawyers were trained in various disciplines, including banking, company, civil and criminal law
Mr Qazi said that during their regular studies, students were not trained by law colleges towards the practical aspects of the profession. Here in the institute, he added, they trained them in all the components of the legal profession and also conduct mock trials so that the new entrant in the profession could properly understand the routine practice.
He explained that the ADB funded LCP was a bit different from the legal clinic of the ILS as it was aimed at sensitising lawyers towards the social aspects. "The selected group of lawyers in the making would be trained in providing free legal aid to the disadvantaged groups, including women and children," he added. It is normally observed, he added, that young lawyers were not aware even about how to register and read an FIR.
Ms Ayesha Durrani, the director of the LCP, said the response of the stake holders in the programme, including bar council, police and prison department, was very positive.
Through this four-month training programme, she added, they would develop a group of pro-bono lawyers who would be fully conscious of the problems faced by the women and children in courts.