MARCH 9, 2007 was a watershed in Pakistan's history not only because on that day a judge defied an all-powerful president but more so because from then on until Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was restored to office two years later, Pakistani lawyers came together in an unprecedented struggle for the judiciary's independence.

More than a year after the restoration, lawyers still dominate the news this time however, not for their noble sacrifices but for their excesses against the law. The suggestion that lawyers have been corrupted by the taste of success only partially explains the present situation which may only be more fully understood — and remedied — by examining the very features of the legal profession that had led to the success of the lawyers' movement in the first place.

Besides the shared ideology of the lawyers supporting the movement, its success was made possible by two interrelated factors the democratic structure of the bar and the number of lawyers the bar had within its fold. The structure of the bar is a legacy of the British and, with necessary variations, is common to the postcolonial world. At the base of the structure, as it exists in Pakistan, are the four provincial bar councils and at the apex, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).

Whilst the provincial bar councils enjoy a degree of autonomy in regulating the affairs of lawyers enrolled in their jurisdiction, the PBC is responsible for holistically regulating the profession.

Other than the seat of the chairmen (which are ex officio occupied by the advocate generals of the provinces and the attorney general of Pakistan for the provincial bar councils and the PBC respectively) seats in a provincial bar council are allocated on a district-wise basis and its members elected in a general election held every five years. Seats in the PBC are allocated on a province-wise basis. Although its elections are also held every five years, its members are elected by votes of provincial bar council members only.

Unlike officers of the bar councils however, office bearers of bar associations are elected exclusively from the legal community on a yearly basis. Elections at all levels of the bar are vigorously contested and serve to form a link between members of the bar throughout the country.

While its integrated structure gave it outreach, it was the numbers the bar was able to command that enabled it to launch and sustain the movement across Pakistan. In terms of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973 a person aspiring to the practice of law is required to enrol with the appropriate bar council district and high court lawyers enrol with provincial bar councils whereas lawyers of the Supreme Court enrol with the Pakistan Bar Council.

All lawyers are encouraged to join bar associations according to their level of practice or professional interest. During the movement therefore, not only were the leaders of the bar able to call upon contacts established over years of electioneering but also each lawyer named on the rolls of the bar councils became a potential supporter and once recruited to the cause, an indispensable ally.

In order to ensure coordination amongst lawyers and to pre-empt any attempts at disruption, the emphasis of bar councils and associations throughout the movement remained on ensuring that like-minded lawyers be elected to office at all tiers of the profession. This in turn made it necessary for the bar to maintain if not actively increase its ranks.

At times this meant that lawyers were enrolled more for their ideological leanings than for their ability, and at others, that, certain acts of lawyers, even if deemed contrary to the dignity of the profession, were overlooked. While this strategy worked for achieving the objectives of the movement it had the adverse effect of allowing into or tolerating within the profession potentially negative elements.

The situation so created was capable of remedy had the profession devised a plan for directing and nurturing the newest of its members beyond the movement. The bar, however, was handicapped not only did it remain preoccupied with issues that continued to arise at the national level, but it had also historically preferred to view lawyers as a vote bank rather than an intellectual resource. While sections of the bar and the bench had time and again deplored this state of affairs there had been no concerted effort to safeguard let alone boost the standard of the profession.

At this stage when the reputation of the profession is at a low ebb, its sanctity may only be salvaged by the bar adopting a three-pronged strategy which simultaneously focuses on enhancing the standard of academic and vocational training given to lawyers (the importance of which is underscored in Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani's landmark judgment in the case of Pakistan Bar Council v Federal Government PLD 2007 SC 394, where he observes that “poor quality of legal education in the country is taking its toll on the bench, the bar and ultimately the quality of justice”); tightening the criteria for entry into and progression through the profession so that only persons with acumen, aptitude and ability are allowed to practise and, most importantly, rigorously enforcing disciplinary measures regardless of stature or affiliation.

If Pakistanis are to have any confidence in the justice system, particularly in the wake of Pakistan's new constitutional order, we must have a well-regulated and independent legal profession whose members are trained to practise their art at the highest ethical and professional level.

The responsibility for reinventing the profession however lies ultimately with the bar itself which must recognise that if it is to fulfil its duty to uphold the rule of law and protect fundamental rights, it must hone its skills rather than its belligerence. If the bar fails to set and enforce standards at all levels, it faces the acute and imminent danger of degenerating into sheer anarchy where its members will either scuttle for individual advantage, or worse still, offer their collective support to the highest bidder.

The writer is a barrister.

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