Lawyers, Justice, and Power: A Historical Evolution of the Legal Profession in Pakistan

Abstract

This paper critically examines the historical evolution of Pakistan’s legal profession through the intersecting dimensions of justice, authority, and professional identity, tracing its journey from the moral pluralism of Islamic and customary law to the codified and bureaucratic order forged under British colonialism. In the precolonial era, Qazi courts and local councils functioned as moral communities grounded in ethical learning and communal legitimacy rather than coercive authority. Colonial rule disrupted this order through Anglo Muhammadan law, transforming the Qazi into an administrative agent and confining Islamic law to the private realm. From this emerged a new class of English trained lawyers who served both empire and resistance, exemplified by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who turned legal discourse into a tool of political emancipation. After 1947, the courts repeatedly legitimized executive dominance and martial interventions, embedding elite power at the heart of law while oscillating between reform and complicity. The Lawyers’ Movement of 2007–2009 briefly revived law’s moral conscience, converting the courtroom into a space of collective defiance, though its aftermath fostered judicial populism and institutional overreach. Drawing on Gramsci’s notion of hegemony and Bourdieu’s concept of legal capital, the paper argues that Pakistan’s legal field remains caught between the promise of justice and entrenched elite power. Yet emerging reformist lawyers in digital rights, environmental accountability, and gender inclusion signal a fragile moral renewal. True decolonization lies in democratizing the Bar, genderifying the Bench, and restoring law’s ethical purpose as a living pursuit of justice.