CJP Khosa urges lawyers to earn respect through hard work

CJP Asif Saeed Khosa says all professions are respectable but law, medicine are holy

LAHORE: Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa has said that judges and lawyers did not enjoy the respect that they did in the past. He urged the lawyers to improve their knowledge of history, mathematics and literature so that they could improve their role in society and do not give anyone the opportunity to point fingers at them.

Addressing the graduation ceremony of the Pakistan College of Law here on Saturday, the CJ noted, “In order to be a good lawyer, you need to master history, mathematics and literature,” while quoting Lord Denning, a noted English lawyer and judge.

Justice Khosa remarked that all professions were respectable but the professions of law and medicine were holy. He said while a doctor treated the human body, the lawyer treated diseases of society; a doctor treated physical pain while a lawyer fought for people’s rights.

“Lawyers attain ideal status in society as they ‘fight’ for its betterment,” he stressed while emphasising the collective role of the lawyers in a society.

The Chief Justice recalled the popular mass protest, the Movement for the Restoration of Judiciary in the country from 2007-2009 for the protection of judiciary.

Giving the example of his late father, the Chief Justice said he was 55 years of age and used to travel on a bicycle to and from court.

“Everyone used to respect him,” he said, adding that law is still a respectable profession in Pakistan. “Every law is made in some historical context. We are at a point in history where terrorism as a law is a hot topic in courts,” he pointed out.

Justice Khosa said that in the coming few years, lawyers will wonder about the background of such stringent anti-terrorism laws. “To understand the stringency of the law and provisions of the law, you must know the historical background,” he said.

Mathematics, he said, is required because all arguments should be mathematically precise.

Highlighting the importance of literature, the CJ noted, “You may have a beautiful, precise argument, but it may just be in your head. You need language to be able to convey that argument to another mind”.

Justice Khosa laid emphasis on the law’s spirit, history and purpose for a lawyer to complete his arguments. He stressed the law students to work hard and change their attitude after becoming lawyers as it would earn them respect.

He urged the institutes providing law education to students to also offer practical training.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice Umar Ata Bandial urged the students to stand for truth. He called for character building and stressed that hard work was the only way to success in life.