A student in law school may be able to read all the books and acquire all the

philosophies and wisdom in the world but still the thing he needs to have
command on is practice his knowledge in the field of Law whether as a judge or
Lawyer. The same passage has been state by CHIEF JUSTICE RICHARD J. SCOTT
that;
A student could study and all the lessons [about the guitar], but he may still not be
able to Know the most important thing: how to play. If I could change one thing
about Higher education in Canada, it would be to convince the academy that
giving our Students effective and repeated practice using their cognitive skills is
more Important than providing them with knowledge, and that, despite the
significant Economic and logistic challenges we face, tools are now available that
allow us to teach these skills more effectively than we have ever been able to in
the history of Education.i
Hence there’s a common thing between Judicial academies and Law schools but
that thing seems to be missing in majority of Law schools in Pakistan. As Harry
Edwards (former Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia and a prior tenured professor at the University of Michigan Law School
and Harvard Law School) put it:
The law student should acquire the capacity to use cases, statutes and other Legal
texts. The person who has this capacity knows the full range of legal concepts: the
concepts of property, the procedural law, and constitutional law, and so on. This
person is skilled at interpretation: the reading of a case, or a complex regulatory
scheme. Finally this person can communicate the interpretive understanding, both
orally and in writing.ii
Both the Judicial academies and Law schools perform in partnership as the Law
schools provide the students with Professional legal qualifications which are
prerequisites for persons to become come lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and
other judicial personnel (para-legals). As discussed earlier that the Law schools in
Pakistan are being regulated by the Ministry of Education, Pakistan Bar Council
and Higher Education Commission. It is apparently independent of the judicial
academies which seems to be an upset for Legal education in Pakistan because
the qualifications for a judge in Pakistan doesn’t only include practical experience
as a legal practitioner for minimum two years but also requires an academic
degree of LLB.
The curriculum of Legal education is generally provided by Higher Education
Commission supervised by the Ministry of Education. Higher Education
Commission is authorized to direct the work on legal Education, to prepare
development strategies and to guide the formulation of teaching documents, to
enhance the relationship between Legal education and society, and to evaluate
and improve the pedagogy of legal teaching and the building-up of designated
teaching sites.iii Since legal education is of peculiar and more professional nature,
it is tougher for the Ministry of Education to handle it alone. It needs assistance
from the Ministry of Justice which has the Department of Law and Education, to
help guide legal education and research in general, and Teaching and research in
the Ministry-subordinated law colleges and Training centres in particular. iv It is
quite evident that the Ministry of Justice is more concerned about the legal
education development in the colleges and other educational Institutions rather
than law schools in universities under the Ministry of Education. Despite this,
legal textbooks are prepared under the charge of the Ministry of Justice in
accordance with guiding opinions of the Ministry of Education on the construction
and reform of higher Education teaching materials. It should better be guided by
the Ministry of Justice with the directions of more practical forums like Law firms
and Judicial Academies.
The methods of delivering legal education in Pakistan is very traditional, i.e., the
most used pedagogical technique is lecturing, which is now discredited for being
too conservative and old fashioned since it does not promote healthy skepticism,
intellectual curiosity and creativity. To overcome these demerits, Law school must
constitute a firm linkage with the practical forums like Judicial academies and Law
firms. Law schools face the difficulties in training the students who have the
required knowledge of legal theory and practical skills in order to make them well
equipped to face the rapidly changing environment of legal profession (such as
law firms and Judicial Academies) and the increased complexity of the law itself.
According to a survey, many law students regard legal research and writing skills,
Knowledge of substantive law (doctrine), practical skills training, and previous live
client experience as important for a legal job, and students expect more practical
training, practical skills, and increase Research and writing opportunities at law
schools.v
i
Erin Anderssen, “The Learning Curve: Re-Inventing Higher Education”, The Globe And Mail (6 October 2012) F1.
ii
Harry T Edwards, “The Growing Disjunction Between Legal Education and the Legal Profession” (1992) 91 Mich L Rev 34
at 57.
iii
“Main Functions and Responsibilities of the Department of Higher Education”, Ministry of Education
iv
“Department of Law and Education”, Ministry of Justice, available in
http://www.legalinfo.gov.cn/joa/apparment/aptfgjy.htm (access date: 26 December 2001).
v
Christine M. Szaj, “Building Bridges and Connecting Dots: Easing the Transition From Law Schools to Law Practice”, in
Donald B. King (ed.), Legal Education in the 21st Century (Littleton, Colorado: Fred B. Rothman Publications, 1999), 123–
124.