Daily Times

Human lawmakers may fail to foresee a number of situations emerging in the future. One way of defining legislation is as an acknowledgment of a social order. Every society undergoes changes in the course of time. Most of these stem from changing socio-economic, cultural and political conditions. Law is thus ever evolving. It needs to meet the contemporary challenges. In modern days, legislatures adapt laws to address new situations through repeals, amendments, and framing of new laws. With the passage of time, almost all laws become obsolete and unworkable and have to be replaced by new laws. This has gone on for centuries. This aspect of laws relates to the State and its functionaries.

When join the legal profession, at an individual level and as a collective, we notice that lawyers, investigators, government pleaders, and judges are also subject to the same problems: the need for laws to meet the evolving demands of the society. Lawyers, in particular, need to have their hand on the pulse of the society. With the passage of time, their knowledge of law becomes outmoded. Their experience alone cannot fill the resulting void. Given that they are among the society’s intellectual elite, it is essential for them to update their knowledge, because law must keep changing. A lawyer who fails to make the effort to enhance and update his knowledge lags behind. Like personal grooming, growth in one’s knowledge of law is an ongoing effort.

Broadly speaking, we divide the legal fraternity into two categories: the established lawyers and young lawyers. Both need continuous professional development throughout their careers. The legal fraternity needs to convince the Pakistan Bar Council and the provincial bar councils to ask the federal and provincial governments to set up accredited continuous development programmes. These must be mandatory for lawyers at appropriate intervals. Those successfully completing the requirements should get certificates to that effect. Those refusing such programmes should be dealt with for professional misconduct. If they persist in such behaviour they should lose their licences.

Continuous professional development simply means the maintenance and enhancement of a lawyer’s professional knowledge, skills, attitudes and professionalism throughout his career

Pakistan inherited its legal system from the Great Britain. Legal education in Pakistan has never received the government’s attention. Our governments and bar councils have not paid due attention to the profession of law.

The bar and the bench are the most important institutions in the justice system. The quality of justice system is directly linked to the quality of people gracing the bench and adorning the bar. Yet, there is no quality control filter in place to make sure that only competent people become lawyers and judges and the doors are institutionally shut on the rest.

In England and Wales, every practicing barrister is required to undergo a continuous professional development programme. A report thereof has to be sent to the Bar Standards Board – a regulatory body. Failure to comply with this requirement may lead to prosecution and suspension of licence. Professional development allows a practicing barrister to stay up-to-date with the ever-evolving laws and ensures that professional legal services are rendered competently. It is unfortunate that this requirement is lacking in our system.

Continuous professional development simply means the maintenance and enhancement of a lawyer’s professional knowledge, skills, attitudes and professionalism throughout his career. It benefits lawyers and is an essential component of the commitment they make to the public to practice law or provide legal services competently and ethically.

It is useful because it allows a practicing lawyer to manage his own development on an ongoing basis, maintain his competence throughout legal career, keep abreast of new laws and provide the best possible service to the clientele.

The purposes of a continuous professional development programme are manifold. It helps a practicing lawyer reflect and review their learning and development through and through. It also allows lawyers to update and develop their knowledge of law. It highlights gaps in lawyers’ skills and capabilities, demonstrates lawyers’ stature to the clients and stakeholders, and helps develop, even change a lawyer’s career path.

Every civilized society needs able lawyers. Their ability is closely linked to the growth of legal knowledge, skills and attitudes. These are traits of professional people. The State and the civil society should come forward to fill the void by instituting a mandatory accredited continuous development programme for all lawyers. Only then can we have a reliably better legal system to deliver timely justice.

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer. He is a partner at UMR Practice