Daily Times

LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Sunday directed the authorities to immediately remove barriers outside Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Hamza Shehbaz’s residence.

Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed was reprimanded by the chief justice when he said there were threats to Hamza’s life. Mian Saqib Nisar said he did not know any Hamza, and asked him to change his home if there was any danger.

Hearing a suo motu notice on the blocking of roads for security purposes the Lahore Registry, the chief justice came down hard on Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed when he said only the security gate near Hamza’s residence was removed and not the barriers.

“Hamza is an MNA and the chief minister’s son,” said the chief secretary in response to the chief justice’s inquiry.

“Who’s Hamza? I don’t know any Hamza,” Chief Justice Nisar had remarked.

The chief justice remarked further that the court could summon Hamza and ask him about the threats to his life, adding that if there were genuine threats, then he could shift his residence.

During the hearing, the chief justice remarked: “I’m the chief justice, yet there are no barriers outside my house.” The chief secretary assured the court of removing the barriers.

Chief Justice Nisar informed the official that he would visit the place in a private vehicle to check if his orders had been implemented.

Hamza, an MNA from Lahore, resides in Model Town’s H-Block close to Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharifs’ residence.

Legal education: The Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday tasked committees for identifying reforms in legal education to report their findings to the court within seven weeks after the chief justice vowed to reform the standard of legal education in the country in less than two months.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, was hearing a suo motu case at the SC Lahore registry regarding the quality of legal education in Pakistan.

The SC on Saturday had prohibited universities across the country from granting affiliation to new law colleges, and barred high courts and subordinate courts from issuing a stay order on the case.

The CJP had regretted that the institutions of the country were being weakened and stressed the need for competent lawyers instead of those who “sold paan during the day and practised law in the evening”.

In yesterday’s hearing, the SC had commissioned a committee, which was to be headed by lawmaker Hamid Khan, and directed it to identify reforms needed in universities imparting legal education.

On Sunday, the committee was told to submit its final report in seven weeks’ time, whereas committees operating at the provincial level were instructed to submit their findings to the central committee within five weeks.

The SC also ordered provincial chief secretaries to assist the committees formed in order to improve the quality of legal education in the country. The court also formed a separate committee today comprising law teachers and directed them to compile a report on the reforms needed within six weeks.

“We need high standards of legal education so that we produce good lawyers rather than clerks,” the CJP said.

“Private law colleges can fill the vacuum in legal education, but they should not approach this as a business,” he added.

Published in Daily Times, January 22^nd 2018.