Punjab University Law College

Punjab University Law College (PULC) is a Public Sector Law College of University of the Punjab, Canal Road (Quaid e Azam) Campus, Lahore. It is the oldest law institute in Pakistan which was established in 1868 (14 years before Punjab University itself). It was the first institute offering legal education to be established in a Muslim majority area of the Subcontinent. Since then, it has produced some of the most prominent lawyers, activists, statesmen, judges, bureaucrats and politicians. Today, the institute is known for its rich history, high quality education and renowned Alumni.

After being founded in 1868 under the auspices of the literary club Anjuman e Punjab, the college became a constituent part of the University of the Punjab in 1870.

Anjuman I Punjab (1865)
University Law College was established by the Anjuman I Punjab in 1868. Anjuman-I-Punjab was a literary club founded in Lahore on 21 January 1865 by Dr Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner who was a renowned British linguistic and orientalist. He also later, became the first registrar of University of the Punjab. The society aimed at the development of Vernacular Literature. Meetings were held by the Anjuman for the literary, social and scientific interests of people. Oriental College and University Law College were also established by the Anjuman which became part of Punjab University College, now known as University of the Punjab

Pre-partition (1868–1947)
The college's original course of study was two years long and offered both in English and the vernacular language. No examinations were administered, because admittance to the practice of law was governed solely by examinations administered by the Punjab Chief Court.

In 1873, the court's rules changed to require candidates for the bar to have passed university entrance examinations and the college introduced examinations. In 1887, passing of intermediate exams and having minimum three-fourth attendance in the law college was made mandatory for giving the Law/Bar exams. In 1890, Government of India imposed new rules. It empowered the college to confer LL.B and LL.D degrees and in order to give the LL.B examinations and obtain the license to practice law, it was necessary for the students to have passed in intermediate and to graduate in any arts degree.

In 1935 the college increased the span of LL.B program from two years to three years however after the partition the regulation were again revised and on the orders of the Government of Pakistan and the Supreme Court of Pakistan the degree program was again reduced to two years.

Post-partition
In 1948 the LL.B degree program was of two years. In 1964 however, under the directions of the High court of West Pakistan, the LL.B professional degree was extended to three years and in the same year, the college started to offer two Law courses at a time; B.L (Bachelor in law) a degree of two years and LL.B (Legum Baccalaureus) the traditional three year degree.

In 1966 the B.L degree was cancelled and the LL.B degree was again converted to a two years degree program. However, in 1992–1993 the 3 years LL.B program was reintroduced, this time, under the pattern of the Law of UK (Common Law)

College campus
The main building of the college was initially located at katchery road known as Allama Iqbal Campus (Old Campus) near Oriental College and Government College, Lahore. However, in 1978 due to lack of proper space and in order the expand the college, it was shifted to its present premises at Quaid e Azam Campus (New Campus) along with Hailey College of Commerce and other important departments.

Current standing
Today the Law College is one of the Highest Ranked Law institutes in Pakistan. The merit of Law College is extremely high while the acceptance rate is extremely low. Due to its incredibly low fee and many facilities for students, it is the most preferred Law college for law aspirants in Pakistan.

Although initially of three years the degree was extended to five years for an LLB beginning in 2016 under the Pakistan Bar Council Legal Education Rules, 2015. The degree of LL.B three years was changed to an integrated-five years BA.LLB. It was done to limit the massively increasing lawyers in Pakistan and to offer professional legal education to the Law students.

As of 2013, the college had approximately 1,600 students. The college now offers B.A LL.B (5 years) in Annual system and B.A LL.B (Hons) in semester system and has total number of seats of 200. Out of which 100 are on-merit and 100 are of self-finance.

B.A. LL.B.
The B.A LL.B program is a 5-year integrated B.A and LL.B program which is divided in two phases 1) the B.A phase and 2) the LLB phase. In the first two years, students study basic B.A subjects like Poetical Science, Sociology, Pakistan history, Islamic studies, English and introductory subjects of law. While in the next the years, the subjects are specialized into Law-elated subjects for example: Civil Law, Criminal Procedure Code (CPC/CRPC), Cyber Laws, Corporate Law, Company Law, Constitutional Law (Pakistani, US and British), Environmental Law, Property Laws, Law of Equity, Law of Torts e.t.c

LL.M.
From 1981- 82, regular LL.M. classes were also introduced and now LL.M, a two years research program is being offered during morning as well as evening hours. The LL.M program is controlled by the Postgraduate School of Legal Studies. The following subjects are being offered to LL.M part 1 and 2 students: Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Law of evidence, International Economic Law e.t.c. This research oriented LL.M. program required six days a week of library work, seminars, lectures and tutorials. LLM programme is discontinued by law college and is now being offered by post graduate school of law of punjab university.

LL.D.
The LL.D degree was offered by PULC in 1890. It was renamed Ph.D. in law in 1986 Since then only three people have been awarded with the Ph.D. in Law(LL.D) degree.

PG Diplomas of Law
The Postgraduate School of Legal Studies also offers a number of different postgraduate diplomas (mostly in evening). They are designed both for Law students and non-law students who want to gain legal knowledge but are not Lawyers/Law students. The diplomas include: Diploma in Taxation law, Corporate law, International Trade law (WTO), Forensic law and many more.

Admissions
Getting admission in every program in PULC is challenging and depends purely on merit. Due to the surprisingly low fee and exceptional facilities, it is the top priority for students who want to pursue law as a career.


 * 1) Getting admission in LL.B requires hard work and dedication. Students have to pass their matriculation and intermediate with exceptional marks. Then students have to pass the Law Admission Test (LAT) conducted by the HEC under regulations of PBC. After LAT, the students appear in the PU-admission test (USAT). After passing through all these phases, the merit list is displayed and the deserving students are awarded admissions.
 * 2) Admission in LL.M is even harder then LL.B because the students have to pass the LL.M entry test, the Graduate Admission Test conducted by PBC and then appear for an interview. After testing their skills, knowledge and dedication, they are admitted in the Masters Program.

Library
The Law College Library is well known for its extensive collection of law books and journals. The collection is regularly updated in accordance with the modifications in the country's laws and the constitutional amendments. Online law resources like WestLaw, Pakistanlawsite, JSTOR, etc., are also available.

IT Facility
Students can have complete access to online law resources through the computers placed in the library. The computers are available for open research and can even be reserved for solitary research.

Moot Room
In order to train the students for litigation and for future role as lawyers, the college conducts regular moot workshops, exercises and competitions which are managed and organised by the Law Moot Society. For this purpose a separate moot room is available as per the regulations of PBC. The historic moot room of PULC has a rich and vibrant history. Many great lawyers and judges have been trained here.

Dr. Parvez Hassan Environmental Law Centre (PHELC)
The Environmental Law Centre was established by the famous lawyer and environmentalist, Dr. Parvez Hassan (who is also the alumni of PULC), in order to improve the standard of the college, so, is also named after him. It consists of the Environmental Hall (also known as Begum Razia Hassan Auditorium), lecture halls, conference rooms, offices and embellished lawns. The centre has now become somewhat the recognition of PULC.

Edhi Hall
Edhi hall is the oldest hall of PULC and used to be the main place for organising events and competitions until the Environmental Hall was constructed. The Edhi hall is named after the renowned Abdul Sattar Edhi (A social worker and human rights activist). The hall still holds a special importance in the affairs of PULC.

Student societies and clubs
Student societies and clubs in PULC, are managed by PULS (Punjab University Law Societies) These include official, semi official and student-created clubs).

Official Societies
Members of Official Societies are appointed after interviews conducted by permanent faculty members. Each society consists of a President, General Secretary, Vice President and a core committee. A faculty member is also appointed as Patron-in-Chief of every society. These societies receive funding and their members serve for a one year period. Following are the official societies of PULC.
 * 1) Al-Meezan Society (Historic Magazine of Law College)
 * 2) PULC Law Moot Society
 * 3) PULC Debating Society
 * 4) PULC Literary Society
 * 5) PULC ADR Clinic (First Alternate Dispute Resolution Clinic of Pakistan)
 * 6) PULC Media Society
 * 7) PULC Character Building Society (Established by NAB, Pakistan)
 * 8) PULC Islamic Society
 * 9) PULC Sports Society
 * 10) Event Management Society

Non Official Societies

 * 1) KHAAB PULC – Arts Society
 * 2) The Thespians Society (Dramatics Society)

Lawyers and Jurists
Abid Hassan Minto (Former president of National Awami league)

S.M. Zafar (President Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association 1979, Chairman Human Rights Society of Pakistan & Cultural Association of Pakistan, Chancellor of Hamdard University)

Asma Jahangir (Human Rights Activist, co-founded Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, United Nations prize in the field of Human rights (2018), Hilal-i-Imitiaz (2010), Nishan-e-Imtiaz (2018))

V.D Mahajan (Advocate Supreme Court of India, Legal Researcher, Historian, Political scientist)

Jawahar Lal Kaul (Indian lawyer, Vice Chancellor of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Visiting Fellow at University of St. Thomas School of Law since 2014)

Mirza Aziz Akbar Baig (Supreme Court Lawyer, Prominent Lawyer in 2007 Lawyer's Movement)

Akram Sheikh (President Supreme Court Bar Association, CEC of Pakistan Bar Council 1993–1994)

Hamid Khan (Vice-president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, legal writer and scholar, President Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan)

Ali Ahmad Kurd (President Supreme Court Bar Association, Important figure in Lawyer's movement 2007)

Dr. Parvez Hassan (Environmental Lawyer, LLM - Harvard, Climate Activist, Founder of Parvez Hassan Environmental Law Center at PULC)

Khizr Khan (US Supreme Court Lawyer, Presidential Medal of Freedom 2022, Commissioner of US-CIRF, LLM from Harvard Law School )

Swami Shraddhanand (Indian Lawyer, Hindu Guru and Arya Samaj Activist)

M. D. Tahir (Prominent Senior Lawyer, Human Rights Activist)

Shahla Zia (Women rights activist, prominent lawyer)

A.K. Dogar (Senior Advocate of Supreme Court)

Mowahid Hussain Shah (Pakistani and US Lawyer, co-founder of PTI)

Barrister Dr Abdul Basit (Senior Lawyer, Kashmiri Nationalist)

Sabahat Rizvi (1st Female Secretary of Lahore Bar Association, Women Rights Activist)

Supreme Court judges

 * Hans Raj Khanna, Justice of the Supreme Court of India and former law minister of India.
 * Justice Javaid Iqbal (Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan in 2007, Former Chairman NAB.)
 * Chief Justice Saqib Nisar (25th Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Chief Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja (23rd Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa (26th Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Chief Justice S.A. Rehman (5th Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Chief Justice Muhammed Afzal Zullah (11th Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Chief Justice Muhammad Munir (2nd Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Chief Justice Shiekh Anwarul Haq (9th Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Chief Justice Nasim Hassan Shah (12th Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Chief Justice Muhammad Yaqub Ali (8th Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Senior Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan (CJ LHC 2015–16)
 * Chief Justice Gul Muhammad Khan (4th Chief Justice of Federal Shariah Court)
 * ChiefnJustice Mian Mehboob Ahmad (8th Chief Justice of Federal Shariah Court.Born in Iraq.Also served as Vice Chairperson of Hilal ahmar)
 * Chief Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan (15th Chief Justice of Federal Shariah Court)
 * Chief Justice Najam ul Hassan (16th Chief Justice of Federal Shariah Court)
 * Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani (21st Chief Justice of Pakistan)
 * Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar (Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan in 2007–2009)
 * Senior Justice Mansoor Ali Shah (45th CJ LHC)
 * Senior Justice Hameedur Rahman (CJ LHC 2011–13)
 * Senior Justice Khalil ur Rehman Ramday
 * Senior Justice Nasira Iqbal
 * Senior Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi
 * Senior Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar
 * Senior Justice Falak Sher (35th CJ LHC)
 * Senior Justice Muhammad Javed Buttar
 * Senior Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed
 * Chief Justice Irshad Hassan Khan (CJP 2000–2002)
 * Senior Justice Munib Akhtar
 * Senior Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed
 * Senior Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad khan
 * Senior Justice Aalia Neelum
 * Senior Justice Mujahid Mustaqeem Ahmad

High Court judges

 * Justice Sir Shadi Lal (Chief Justice Lahore High Court, 1920. First Indian to become the Chief Justice of any High Court. Former Principal and dean of Punjab University Law College)
 * Justice Ali Baqar Najafi (CJH Lahore)
 * Justice Shakeel ur Rahman khan
 * Justice Khalil ur Rehman Khan (CJH Lahore)

Advocates general

 * Ahmad Awais Former Advocate General Punjab.

Actors, TV personalities
Nauman Ijaz (TV Actor, President's Pride Of Performance Award, 2012)

Naeem Bokhari (Actor, Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan, Former host of Khabarnaak)

Ministers

 * Bansi Lal Legha (3rd Chief Minister of Haryana, Former Indian Minister of Defence and Railways)
 * Azam Nazeer Tarar (Current Minister Of Law and Justice, Leader of the Senate)
 * Rana Sanaullah (39th Interior Minister of Pakistan)
 * Fawad Chaudhry (Former Minister of Information)
 * Afzal Ahsan Randhawa (MNA from 1927 to 1977, Famous Writer and Poet, Pride Of Performance Award in 1996)
 * Khwaja Muhammad Asif (Former Pakistani Minister of Defence,Foreign affairs, sports and Petroleum)
 * Gurdial Singh Dhillon (Former Indian Minister of Agriculture, 5th Speaker of Lok Sabha)
 * Sana Ullah Khan (Former Minister of Local and Rural Development)
 * Rao Sikander Iqbal (23rd Defence Minister Of Pakistan)
 * Zahid Hamid (Former Minister of Law, Science and Technology and Climate Change)
 * Usman Ibrahim (Former Minister of Law, Human rights, Defence and Administration)
 * Ahmer Bilal Soofi (Minister of Law and Justice, 2013)
 * Muhammad Munir (2nd CJP, Former Law minister)
 * Iqbal Haider (Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, 1993–1994)
 * Syed Afzal Haider (Former Minister of Law and Justice)
 * Raja Zafar ul Haq (Chairman of Pakistan Muslim League (N), Leader of Senate 2015–2018, former Minister of Information and religious affairs, Former Ambassador to Egypt in 1986)
 * Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dreshak (Member of National Assembly, 2018–2023)
 * Kashmala Tariq (Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment, MNA, 2013)
 * Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri (Former Minister of Foreign Affairs)
 * Babar Awan (Former Minister of Law and Justice. Sitara e Imtiaz)
 * Khalid Anwer (Former Law minister)
 * Waheed Asghar Dogar (Member of Provincial Assembly, 2013–2018)
 * Malik Muhammad Waris Kallu (Member of Provincial Assembly, 2002–2021)
 * Rai Haider Ali Khan (Minister of Provincial Assembly, 2018–2023)
 * Rao Kashif Rahim Khan (Member of Provincial Assembly, 2008–2018)
 * Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan (Former Member of Provincial Assembly)

Law Enforcement

 * Aftab Sultan (IG Punjab Police 2013, DG - Intelligence Bureau 2013–18, Chairman NAB 2022–23)
 * Faisal Shahkar (IG Punjab Police 2022)

Faculty
(Most of the prominent Faculty of PULC is from the alumni which are not mentioned)