ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ordered to reduce the duration of the LLB (Bachelor of Laws) program from five years to four years.
A five-member constitutional bench, headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, was hearing the legal education reforms case.
During the hearing, the court also directed that the requirement of the Special Equivalence Examination (SEE-Law) for students who have studied law abroad be ended.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar remarked that steps must be taken to improve the quality of law colleges. He said if there are shortcomings in S.M. Law College, they should be fixed instead of shutting the college down. “S.M. Law College existed even before the creation of Pakistan,” he added.
The court postponed further hearing of the case for an indefinite period.
Pakistan Bar Council welcomes SC decision
According to a press release issued by the Pakistan Bar Council, Vice Chairman Ch. Tahir Nasrullah Warraich appreciated the Supreme Court’s decision to suspend the Special Equivalence Examination (SEE-Law) for foreign law graduates whose applications are pending for enrollment. He said the test was discriminatory and added an unnecessary burden, especially since foreign graduates are already required to take the LAW-GAT.
He further noted that the court also approved the request of the Pakistan Bar Council, the Directorate of Legal Education, and HEC to reduce the LLB duration from five to four years, aligning it with other undergraduate degrees in the country.
Meeting of National Curriculum Review Committee on Law
Last month, a three-day detailed meeting of the National Curriculum Review Committee on Law was held at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan. The meeting reviewed the LLB curriculum. It was chaired by HEC Director General Curriculum Dr. Amjad Hussain, and attended by Pakistan Bar Council member Hassan Raza Pasha, Director of the Directorate of Legal Education (DLE) Barrister Usama Malik, and Dean of the Quaid-i-Azam University School of Law Dr. Aziz ur Rehman.
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Deputy Director (Curriculum) HEC Hidayatullah Kasi served as the meeting secretary. The committee gave principle approval to the four-year LLB program and redesigned the degree curriculum to align with international best practices and Pakistan’s legal education needs. The process will continue to seek final approvals as required by law.
