Literature Review:

The British law in India is perhaps the most contentious and the most hotly debated
facet of the history of the British Empire. Supporters of British legal system point to the fact
that this is one of the most efficient legal systems of the world. Critics of British administration
of justice argue that this system was meant for a small British ruling elite and the majority of
Indians gained little from it. Interestingly, admirers of British legal system counter this by saying
that most Indians were poor and oppressed by their own leaders before the British arrived, and
that British laws were less harsh on ordinary Indians than the laws by Indian princes.

Apart from this the most important aspect to be critically evaluated, in case of Pakistan,
is what the reasons are for the sustainability of the British laws after the bifurcation of British
India. Secondly, to what extent judicial reforms have been incorporated in our legal system
since the Independence in 1947, and how the Islamization of laws in Pakistan has countered the
deficiencies in common law.

As for as the reformation of laws is concerned Mukhtar concludes that the Parliament
must make a Judicial Committee which will be a body of well known judges and other senior
lawyers with a bunch of juniors as well, who will see each and every law of Pakistan and suggest
changes according to the society, culture and customary practices of the people of Pakistan.
Secondly, the Government of Pakistan should make a body of seniors and well qualified people
of the specialized fields, who will give suggestions related to their area of practice and those
suggestions will be given to the Judicial Committee and that committee will scrutinize those
suggestions and thereafter recommend them to the legislature for the making of a new law or
changes in the existing law. Moreover, the major laws of Pakistan like Code of Civil Procedure,
1908, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, Specific Relief Act, 1877, Pakistan Penal Code, 1860
are all legislated by the British Parliament before the independence of Pakistan. These laws are
required to be amended in the interest of the general public of Pakistan. Though the law of
evidence, which was passed before partition in 1872 has been repealed and a Qanun-e-
Shahadat Order has been passed in 1984, but it also needs to be amended to fill the lope holes
in the process of the evidence before the court of law for the smooth trial. (Mukhtar, 2015)

According to Mr. Justice ® Javed Iqbal the criminal justice system existing in Pakistan
was transplanted by the British during their colonial rule which is now the main cause of neglect
in redress of public grievances. There is a dire need of improvement of our judiciary to make it
more independent with better service conditions to provide justice to the masses according to
the universal principles of cheaper and speedy adjudication of victim’s grievances. Similarly,
many laws are in operation in Pakistan to control crimes and to maintain the official conduct of
citizens. These are implemented by heterogeneous organs of state functioning parallel to each
other at Federal and Provincial levels. All these laws can be codified in Urdu into one simplified
penal code. It will make it easy for the man in the street to know the law of his land. “Ignorance
of law is no excuse” was a colonial concept to curb the subjects in a law and order state. It must
be changed to guide people to understand their laws to prove their good citizenship. (Iqbal,
1999)

In the exercise of judicial reforms the power of the apex courts in the form of “Judicial
Review” cannot be ignored. According to Harvard Law Review Association judicial review by
independent courts is one means by which the people can overcome information and
coordination problems. Through judicial review of legislative and executive action, combined
with the diligent reporting of court decisions by an independent media, courts provide crucial
information to the people about when their government has abridged the terms of its
constitutional delegation. (Association, 2010)

As for as the Islamic reformation of laws is concerned Rachel Anne Codd elaborates the
role of Ijtehad in a refined form and says:

“From an analysis of the role of Ijtihad and the call for Islamic reformation, it seems that
although Ijtihad must be allowed to play a role in deriving laws acceptable to Allah for the daily
lives of Muslims, Ijtihad as it is conceived today must undergo a reformulation and modification
and be used to build up, from the Quranic Verses, a new body of laws suitable for the demands
of today's society.” (Codd, 1999)
 Bibliography

Association, T. H. (2010). The Pakistani Lawyers' Movement and the Popular Currency of Judicial Power.
Harvard Law Review , 1705-1726.

Codd, R. A. (1999). A Critical Analysis of the Role of Ijtihad in Legal Reforms in the Muslim World. Arab
Law Quarterly , 112-131.

Iqbal, J. J. (1999). The Role of the Judiciary as a Catalyst of Change. Lahore.

Mukhtar, S. (2015). Social Legal Transformation of Pakistan. Social Transformation in Contemporary

Society , 54-66.