Karachi: Training of young lawyers is imperative and setting up of Pakistan Digital Law Academy (PDLA) is a welcome step in this regard, said Mr Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar of Sindh High Court (SHC) here.
Addressing as the chief guest at the ceremony to launch the PDLA at Karachi Gymkhana recently, he said senior and seasoned lawyers and judges after their retirement should train and guide young lawyers to build their successful careers. He said education and training is a never ending process. He said the use of digital technology in training and education is the need of the hour. He said they have already been conducting courses for lawyers and judges from the platform of Sindh Judicial Academy. He offered to extend all-out cooperation to the PDLA regarding practical training of young lawyers. He said we can conduct crash courses for lawyers. He urged the young lawyers to learn court decorum and enhance their knowledge about basic laws.
Patron-in-chief of PDLA former justice and former attorney general of Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan said after the demise of his father senior advocate of Supreme Court Mansoor Ahmed Khan, he and his brothers decided to set up an institution Mansoor Ahmed Khan Foundation with whose collaboration the PDLA has been formed. He said they would focus on practical training of law graduates and arrange online lectures on different subjects from top-notch legal experts. He urged the young lawyers to work hard and excel in their field.
Chairman Justice Helpline former justice Shahab Sarki said this idea of digital platform to raise legal awareness of masses and capacity building of young lawyers is the brain child of Nadeem Shaikh Advocate and Anwar Mansoor Khan. He said this is a great cause and he would provide all-out assistance to it. He said training of young lawyers and easy access to legal process for citizens would benefit whole society.
Advocate Nadeem Shaikh, founder president of Justice Helpline said there are three main objectives of the PDLA: digitalization of legal process, e-courts and e-justice. He thanked the patrons of PDLA and senior lawyers for their support. He thanked the Chief Justice of Sindh Court Ahmed Ali Sheikh for nominating Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar to grace the ceremony as the chief guest.
Mian Zahid Hussain of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry congratulated the patrons for launching the PDLA and said this is a great achievement. Talking about the plights of Karachi megacity during recent rains he said we should also play our role for development of the megacity and accept its ownership.
Chairman Appellate Sindh Revenue Board Justice (retd) Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, Prof Dr Farhan Essa Abdullah, Advocate Haseeb Jamali, general secretary Sindh High Court Bar Association, Prof G N Qureshi also spoke.
Later talking to media, Anwar Mansoor Khan, former Attorney General of Pakistan said the basic aim of this initiative is to enhance the knowledge of lawyers, and to bring the young lawyers in mainstream. He said that these young lawyers of today would become the judges of future. Their sound training in basic laws is crucial.
To a question, Anwar Mansoor Khan said that law is their family profession. He said his grandfather Manzoor Ahmed Khan was a district judge in pre-partition period. Later, he migrated to Pakistan and served as a judge here till his retirement. He said his illustrious father, Mansoor Ahmed Khan was a Senior Advocate of Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Telling about his career, Khan said he left army to join the legal profession. He said his both brothers, Farooq Khan and Afaq Khan, are also related to the legal profession. He said his daughter Umamah Khan is a barrister.
Anwar Mansoor Khan, whose Mansoor Ahmed Khan Foundation, is main collaborator in the initiative of Pakistan Digital Law Academy, said that initially they are launching this academy in Karachi, but they would gradually expand it to whole Pakistan.
The program was opened by Bushra Mirza, Advisor of PDLA, belonging to Lobbyist. She said that online education of lawyers, law students, besides common citizens and layman is necessary to improve understanding of law and legal procedures. She said this Academy would prepare and deliver online material which would be helpful for young lawyers.