What our lawyers need to do
Lawyers have acquired a reputation of being venal, mercenary and negligent in looking after their client’s cases.
For the last couple of months, we have been witnessing the murder of lawyers on a regular basis. This is attributed to lawyers generally losing direction and treating their profession as a business rather than a service to the public. The fact that this attitude involves exploitation of the litigant public seems irrelevant to most lawyers. While a lawyer must look after the interest of his client to the best of his ability; he must do his utmost to win his case, within the law applicable, never at the cost of eternal truth and justice.
It has been my misfortune to see expressions of incredibility and considerable amusement on the part of the lawyers (to say nothing of members of the business community and most other litigants) when this is mentioned to them. Their immediate reaction is: how can a lawyer help his client unless he is prepared to tell lies and manipulate the law?
I have no doubt in my mind that this attitude is a direct consequence of indifferent knowledge on the part of most lawyers. In the process, they have acquired a reputation of being venal, mercenary and negligent in looking after their client’s cases. Presently, most members of the public do not trust lawyers. If per force they have to engage a lawyer, the first thing they seek is to be assured that he is not ‘purchasable’. Learning, experience, ability and integrity all seem to be secondary considerations.
Things have now come to such a pass, as is well-known, that banks today are not prepared to give lawyers credit cards while landlords are generally reluctant to rent out premises to lawyers. Lately, the Karachi Bar Association has vehemently opposed Justice (Retired) Nasir Aslam Zahid, who is heading a free legal aid organisation (not an NGO) formed by the government for men and women who are accused in criminal cases and simply cannot afford a lawyer. This attitude arises entirely from the fact that lawyers have forgotten that their primary task is to serve the public and help judges to ensure justice is done according to law.
A famous English judge said: “The only barrier between chaos and orderly development of society is the judiciary”. Needless to say that this quotation will not apply where the circumstances are such that the judgments of the courts are not enforced by the executive, which is its duty.
In cases where a person is forced to go to a court of law and a judgment is given against him, he generally assumes that either his lawyer compromised with the other side or that the judge was bribed by the other side.
The Sindh Bar Council is also responsible for the present state of affairs of lawyers because of its reluctance to prosecute lawyers who are guilty of professional misconduct; for reasons of their own. They still continue to admit lawyers to the Bar when they are not properly qualified. I am surprised that there has not been more violence against lawyers than we have already seen. This can be checked if lawyers decide to pull their act together and ensure that they acquire the requisite amount of learning in the law before they become lawyers.
I might add that in countries where the rule of law is supreme and lawyers are dedicated to upholding the law above anything else, no one dares disobey the law and judgments are enforced without hesitation. That can happen in Pakistan too, provided that lawyers decide to do everything possible to uphold the law and ensure that the judgments of the law courts are enforced.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2011.
It has been my misfortune to see expressions of incredibility and considerable amusement on the part of the lawyers (to say nothing of members of the business community and most other litigants) when this is mentioned to them. Their immediate reaction is: how can a lawyer help his client unless he is prepared to tell lies and manipulate the law?
I have no doubt in my mind that this attitude is a direct consequence of indifferent knowledge on the part of most lawyers. In the process, they have acquired a reputation of being venal, mercenary and negligent in looking after their client’s cases. Presently, most members of the public do not trust lawyers. If per force they have to engage a lawyer, the first thing they seek is to be assured that he is not ‘purchasable’. Learning, experience, ability and integrity all seem to be secondary considerations.
Things have now come to such a pass, as is well-known, that banks today are not prepared to give lawyers credit cards while landlords are generally reluctant to rent out premises to lawyers. Lately, the Karachi Bar Association has vehemently opposed Justice (Retired) Nasir Aslam Zahid, who is heading a free legal aid organisation (not an NGO) formed by the government for men and women who are accused in criminal cases and simply cannot afford a lawyer. This attitude arises entirely from the fact that lawyers have forgotten that their primary task is to serve the public and help judges to ensure justice is done according to law.
A famous English judge said: “The only barrier between chaos and orderly development of society is the judiciary”. Needless to say that this quotation will not apply where the circumstances are such that the judgments of the courts are not enforced by the executive, which is its duty.
In cases where a person is forced to go to a court of law and a judgment is given against him, he generally assumes that either his lawyer compromised with the other side or that the judge was bribed by the other side.
The Sindh Bar Council is also responsible for the present state of affairs of lawyers because of its reluctance to prosecute lawyers who are guilty of professional misconduct; for reasons of their own. They still continue to admit lawyers to the Bar when they are not properly qualified. I am surprised that there has not been more violence against lawyers than we have already seen. This can be checked if lawyers decide to pull their act together and ensure that they acquire the requisite amount of learning in the law before they become lawyers.
I might add that in countries where the rule of law is supreme and lawyers are dedicated to upholding the law above anything else, no one dares disobey the law and judgments are enforced without hesitation. That can happen in Pakistan too, provided that lawyers decide to do everything possible to uphold the law and ensure that the judgments of the law courts are enforced.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2011.