BPLC to facilitate lawyers: AGP

The Attorney General of Pakistan, Makhdoom Ali Khan has expressed the hope that launch of British Pakistan Law Council (BPLC) would facilitate the lawyers communities of the two countries to further promote bilateral relations and work together on the international plan.
"In this respect the lawyers of the United Kingdom and Pakistan are at an advantage. They already have a base to work from," he said while speaking at the launch of British Pakistan Law Council at the British Deputy High Commission here on Saturday.
Tracing the history of formation of genesis of relations between British and Pakistani lawyers, Attorney General said it lay in colonial history.
The origins of much of the Pakistan Code, he pointed out, can be traced to the English common law. It is, therefore, no surprise that from the mid-nineteenth century onwards many young persons who desired to make a career in law went for studies to England.
In this regard he cited the examples of Father of the nation, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the national poet Allama Iqbal, few prime ministers and a number of distinguished judges and lawyers who, he said, were barristers of the Inns of Court while some of our present leading lawyers and judges were educated in England and so were many of the rising stars.
Makhdoom said that process of learning and education continues beyond the world of academe. Law reports, practitioners' handbooks and legal textbooks from the United Kingdom adorn the shelves of the libraries of most successful lawyers here.
Many of the doctrines of constitutional law evolved by judges in Britain impact the course of our jurisprudence. Judgements from the UK are still regarded as being of persuasive value. The decisions of the Privy Council, rendered prior to independence, continue to be of binding effect.
However, he said, the process of learning is not entirely one-sided. In many areas including habeas corpus, private international law and judicial review of administrative action, our judges have not only built upon what they learnt from the British but have at times also dissented in favour of a progressive approach.
The most famous example being the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the Ghulam Jilani case.
Makhdoom Ali Khan said the links between the two legal systems and the lawyers of the two countries were forged a long time ago.
The BPLC initiative to formalise these is particularly welcome as it comes at a time when law is fast transforming itself from a local discipline into a force, which cuts across countries, continents and communities.