KARACHI: Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court Faisal Arab said on Wednesday that legal education in the country was facing problems as most of the graduates from local law schools lacke d advocacy skills.

Speakingat the launchingceremany of the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law, the first law university of the country, at a local hotel, he stated that legal education in Pakistan had yet to reach the level achieved by law schools of South East Asia.

The chief justice said that Pakistani students were competent enough to get admissions to foreign law schools, but the graduates from local law schools did not possess legal education of the requisite standards.

Only a few fresh lawyers gained good quality of professional skills and that too by working hard with seniors, he said.

He was of the opinion that adopting only part time method of teaching will take us nowhere even if we established 20 more law universities.

The permanent faculty members have more time to study themselves and then deliver lectures and they also can effectively participate in process of reviewing curriculum periodically, he added.

The chief justice said it wasimperative that law schools endeavour to achieve a high level of legal education, adding that instead of considering graduation degree sufficient, the law schools must take admissions test before giving admission to students.

He further said that expectations from this university were high and expressed the hope that the vice chancellor sincerely make efforts to equip the university with all necessary requirements which a university of modern era supposed to have and every care must be taken to select law faculty that should be capable of imparting quality legal education to students.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad said that the legal education was necessary in a civilised society since the law stood for truth and justice.

He said the university should work on modern lines and achieve all goals and produce good lawyers.

The vice-chancellor of the university, Qazi Khalid, said that the foundation stone of the university was laid last month in Korangi and it would be completed in February, 2018.

However, he said, the government had provided a building in Clifton to start the 1st academic sessions. The ambassador of Tajikistan, Sher Ali Jononov, and others also spoke.