Young emerging lawyers who have at times confronted and faced myriads of challenges in their profession have attached their hopes to the government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).
Law is known for standing up for the rights of people. It dates back to 3000BC and has travelled from Babylonian laws to the court of chanceries and from there to the courts of today. But now, the occupation of law is losing its honour particularly in the third world country like Pakistan.
The situation can be gauged from the financial status of a young lawyer who officially joins the field at the age of 23 or 24 and remains a newbie until he enters his 30s. The practitioner ends up with no income even after putting in efforts for almost a decade, which could dishearten him and force him to switch to another job.
Talking exclusively to Daily Times, many lawyers expressed hope that the elected government would resolve their severe financial difficulties.
“For the past one year, I am practicing with senior advocates, but still haven’t acquired a license to practise independently as the fees of only acquiring that license is worth Rs 30,000,” aa young lawyer Yasir Munib, belonging from Durand said. He is living in a hostel and even after graduating with an LLM degree; his family is supporting him financially. He opined that these financial constraints of young lawyers can be solved if the Bar Association of Pakistan and other provisional associations sit together to look for a solution to this.
“A majority of youngsters, who want to change the political set up, voted for PTI, as we were confident that the new lawmakers would bring about a change in our profession as well,” he noted.
It’s logical that the legal profession is not an easy job especially for girls. It requires time, focus, patience, uphill struggle and determination to transform into a full-fledged advocate.
Another story is that of Fareena, a female lawyer dealing with cases of women and children for the last many years, who is facing numerous challenges, including economic constraints, transportation, lack of family support, etc.
The chamber where she sits is tiny and congested.
Besides economic issues, she said that female lawyers are finding it hard to continue with their profession due to numerous problems including discouraging attitude of male colleagues and sometimes harassment from rival clients, mostly in criminal cases.
Almost all great leaders were lawyers by profession, like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru. History is full of examples where lawyers played a key role in nationalist and democratic struggles in different parts of the world including in our country.
Published in Daily Times, December 22nd 2018.