About Akmal Wasim
For an introduction, just to say that I am a fourth generation lawyer. Legal Practice was established in our family in 1890. My family played a dominant role in pre-partition India, in the fields of Law and Politics. My grandfather Barrister Mohammad Wasim was the Advocate General of United Provinces in the Congress Government, till 1946, when he resigned and appeared before the Radcliffe Commission on behalf of the Muslim League. Upon partition he was appointed Advocate general of Pakistan under the 1935 Act, in force at that time in Pakistan. Later on my father, Justice Mohammad Haleem served as the Chief Justice of Pakistan from March 1981 to December 1989. He has come to be known as the architect of Public Interest Litigation in Pakistan. His contribution to Law and the judiciary is documented in Paula Newberg’s “Judging the State”, while our family history is well traced by Francis Robinson in his book “Separatism amongst the Indian Muslim of UP”, and by Halide Adib in her memoirs “Inside India”.
For myself, I can say that when I entered legal practice, the social system and the politics in Pakistan was undergoing severe and grave transformation. The legal system could not remain insulated from the serious impact. This in fact came to be the primary reason for a mid career change for me from litigation to academics.
Academic Experience:
I joined Hamdard University as Adjunct Professor in 1997 and taught Business Law in the Institute of Management Science for one year.
In 2001 I was inducted in the Faculty of Legal Studies and have been teaching at Hamdard School of Law initially as Assistant Professor, and later as Associate Professor. I have taught varied subjects to the LL.B classes.
My courses include Jurisprudence & Legal Theory, U.S. Constitution, Administrative Law and the Law of Evidence.
My primary areas of interest in research are Legal Theory and Comparative Constitutional Law
During the period of my academic career I have worked on different spheres of social friction in Pakistan, within the framework of LAW as a composite.
In April-August 2007 I attended a long distance certificate course on Legislative Drafting arranged by the International Commission on Law and Development, in collaboration with Boston University.
On completion of the course, I had the opportunity to draft a bill on Prevention of Illegal Occupation of Premises and a supporting research report based on ROCCIPI formula, as a Consultant to Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services, under the auspices of Pakistan Legislative Support Programme. This draft bill is the first of its kind in Pakistan, steering away from the conventional methodology of legislative drafting. The bill was taken up as a pilot project by PLSP.
Currently my research projects include drafting of a “resource manual for criminal defence counsels”, and “the Constitution and Governance Issues facing Pakistan”
Professional Experience:
After graduating in Law from Karachi University, I took up legal practice in 1982 on enrollment as Pleader. In 1984 I was enrolled as Advocate High Court. In the same year I took up independent practice through my office Wasim & Co. All through up to 1997 I practiced law extensively in all jurisdictions at the original and the appellate stages. The same year i.e. 1997, I was enrolled as Advocate Supreme Court.
During my professional career I have worked as Special Prosecutor for Customs on the criminal side; while appearing in civil briefs for banks, and corporate bodies, besides private the private clientele.
In 1996 I served as Assistant Advocate General, Government of Sindh. The same year Government of Pakistan appointed me as Advisor (legal) to the Ministry of Human Rights.
During my professional practice I acquired intensive knowledge in every important area of litigating in Pakistan from the commencing stage of adversarial proceedings to the apex court (the final stage of appeals).
In 2000 I gave up legal practice totally and opted for legal education which is now my primary vocation. The rich experience of legal practice remains a valuable asset in my educational career.
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