ABSTRACT
In recent years Pakistan has undergone a series of political and constitutional changes which have reshaped the relationships between the three organs of state, the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, as well as Pakistan's honorary fourth institution of power, the military. This chapter describes the relationship between the bar and the bench as it exists today, and suggests reasons for the changes that are observed and popularly perceived. It is useful to understand the structure of bar associations and councils in Pakistan and their connection with the judiciary. The Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973 created the Pakistan Bar Council as a national body to oversee all other bar councils and associations. The judges formulated the National Judicial Policy in 2009 (NJP) to address the perennial problems of the backlog and delay in the administration of justice through 'earnest effort by the bench and the bar'.
