Designing and Implementing a Legal English Course to Develop the Rule of Law in the Context of Transition in Pakistani Society

The development of the rule of law in states at risk, like Pakistan, is significantly important in the context of war against terrorism: Pakistan has a dire need to transform its society. Pakistan is a common law country, therefore English is the language of law. However, most law students and recent law graduates do not have adequate competence in legal English. This results in a variety of problems: lack of proper understanding of law, delay in justice, non-availability of proper expertise at grassroots’ levels etc. Such problems create hindrance in establishing the rule of law. To address this issue, the Pakistani legal education system needs improvement in curriculum development. This research was a thorough investigation to measure the level of existing linguistic adequacy of learners of law in Pakistan. Taking insights from the U.S. Legal System, the existing teaching methodology at U.S. law schools, and carrying out exhaustive research at the Center for International Legal Education (CILE), University of Pittsburgh, School of Law (Pitt Law), I recommended a legal English course in the light of needs analysis. To investigate learners’ linguistic needs in academic and professional settings, empirical research was conducted through a survey. The study has a wide scope as the recommended course has been implemented in various academic and professional institutes of legal education in Pakistan. Overall, the course has been receiving significant appreciation as it aims to improve the standard of legal education, a must for a healthy change in any society, and the establishment of the rule of law. This paper is divided into six parts. Part I provides introduction to the study, statement of problem, the objective and information about the present research. Part II is a review of literature in the field of the language of law keeping in view its features related to the development of a legal English 2 THE EXPORT OF LEGAL EDUCATION course. Part III describes the research methodology chosen for the study, whereas Part IV reports the findings. Part V takes into account three things: rationale for recommending a course, recommended course outline, and guidelines for implementation. Finally, Part VI evaluates the implementation in the light of enforcement of rule of law.