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Teaching Legal Reasoning to Law Students in Pakistan: Need for Reforms in LLB Curriculum

Teaching Legal Reasoning to Law Students in Pakistan: Need for Reforms in LLB Curriculum 2022 – 30(44) DOI: 10.2478/jles-2022-0013 TEACHING LEGAL REASONING TO LAW STUDENTS IN PAKISTAN: NEED FOR REFORMS IN LLB CURRICULUM Muhammad Imran Ali Department of Law Lahore Leads University Pakistan E-mail: Imran.ali@leads.edu.pk (Received: May 2022; Accepted: July 2022; Published: November 2022) Abstract: Legal education is the method for preserving the rule of law, which is the fundamental premise upon which contemporary nations political and legal underpinnings are built. Legal thinking skills are one of the primary characteristics required of legal practitioners. It is also emphasized in legal education as a primary goal. In Pakistani law schools, the notion of legal reasoning is frequently addressed but rarely articulated. However, in Pakistani law schools, the actual teaching of a skills method approach to legal reasoning as a process and a concept has rarely been properly described. Legal reasoning is not included in the LLB curriculum, which is a fundamental flaw in the legal education system. Legal reasoning will provide law students with a skill that will help them to secure their careers and may be used in a variety of disciplines. This paper will argue that the existing LLB curriculum in Pakistan needs to be reformed and legal reasoning should be included as a subject. Keywords: Legal Education; Legal Reasoning; LLB Curriculum Reforms; Pakistan. 1. Introduction Legal knowledge, both professional and general, is essential for human development. Law that is based on social demand and human need is an essential category that must be followed. Law requires a lot of education, both general and specialized, to be able to rule effectively. This is what we call legal education. Today's legal education must look for social issues and potential improvements so that it may be utilized as a tool for social reform and justice. Law graduates from universities and colleges would become not just future judges, attorneys, legal counsels, law officers, instructors, and researchers, but also responsible public and private sector personnel who would contribute to the country's general governance. The uniqueness of the topic of law places a distinct burden on law graduates. As a Corresponding author: Muhammad Imran Ali. E-mail: Imran.ali@leads.edu.pk Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by VGWU Press This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons BY 4.0 license (Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) result, law students should not only study law in its academic and practical elements but also learn about the people and society in which law is practiced. The ability to think in a particularly legal style is a necessary talent for success in the legal discourse (James & Burton, 2017). As a result, each program within the LLB curriculum should include the development of analytical and critical thinking abilities. Law faculties (law colleges) used to educate law students on how to think like a lawyer (Natt, 2007), while attorneys in practice taught law students how to act like lawyers or how to be a lawyer. Law faculties should educate both theory and skills. As a result, law faculties should teach both how to think like a lawyer and how to be a lawyer. If a student needs to learn to think like a lawyer and act like a lawyer, he or she will also need to learn to solve problems. The use of logical form is crucial in the creation and evaluation of legal arguments, and it may be found at all stages of the legal process. Law and the legal-reasoning process must be taught to students. This is significant because a legal argument's logical form can elevate it from legal analysis to legal persuasion. One of the most crucial aspects of effective advocacy is the logical framework of an argument. In Pakistan, law is a professional subject that requires an undergraduate degree. After completing the country's version of a bar test, graduates of such a curriculum are allowed to practice law. In Pakistan, the administration of universities and law institutions, as well as the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC), supervise and monitor legal education. The Higher Education Commission has been given the authority to oversee, maintain, and develop Pakistan's legal education quality and standards. Introduction to logic and reasoning is part of the LLB curriculum in Semester III, that is not enough to develop critical legal thinking in law students. Traditional formal logic has not been useful in the legal profession, because it is accompanied by deductive mathematical reasoning instead of the practical reasoning we use in law. A lawyer is in a pragmatic profession. Lawyers face an avalanche of legal issues that need their attention and have developed their own ways to help them and think about those issues. Lawyers have limited time for formal theories that do not fit their thinking or that help to address professional issues more effectively or efficiently. The current LLB curriculum has to be revamped to incorporate legal reasoning as a subject to assist law students in their roles as attorneys, problem solvers, arbitrators, counselors, negotiators, and administrators. 2. Legal Reasoning and Critical Analysis It is critical to guarantee that students gain the skills to do research, analyze legal authority, and write or prepare legal papers with a logical framework of arguments as part of their legal education (Rice, 2015). Students must learn to solve issues, debate persuasively, and effectively communicate. Students must be able to analyze Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) legal texts, which will eventually lead to logical thinking, structuring, organization, and, most significantly, the resolution of legal issues (Boyer, 1985). Students must understand the law and the legal-reasoning process, and logical form plays an important role in constructing and assessing legal arguments at every stage of the lawyering process. This is significant because a legal argument's logical form can elevate it from legal analysis to legal persuasion. One of the most crucial aspects of effective advocacy is the logical framework of an argument. To be an effective practicing lawyer, it needs more than thinking like a lawyer; analytical abilities provide a solid basis on which attorneys may serve their clients (Venter, 2006). Problem-solving, legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, factual inquiry, and communication are all essential lawyering abilities. All of these abilities emphasize the importance of being able to think critically and analytically (Spreng, 2015). No matter what the conditions are, analysis is a certain method of thinking about issues, gathering information from many sources, analogizing fact patterns, extrapolating laws, synthesizing and strategizing, and creating predictions. Students must be able to explain and apply the law, construct compelling arguments, and, of course, exercise proper authority (Venter, 2006). The two sides of the same coin are legal analysis and critical legal thought. Students will require legal thinking and critical analytical abilities. Students are taught not just to think about facts, but also to identify issues, apply the law to the issues, and come to a conclusion while improving their capacity to undertake fundamental legal analysis, regardless of the technique or model used. Students should be able to add comparisons, identification of benefits and drawbacks, strengths and weaknesses, and acknowledgment of multiple points of view on the same subject to their analysis in addition to this basic organization of their thoughts. For the purposes of legal education, “critical thinking” is defined as the careful and serious examination of a legal statement, claim, argument, judgment, stance, or action against a set of specific criteria or standards. It is a way of thinking about legal issues that is characterized by the law student's inability to accept the target of criticism at face value. Instead, the student insists on making his own judgment and coming to his own conclusion by interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating the object of critique in a rigorous, open-minded, and even-handed manner (James & Burton, 2017). To think like a lawyer, one must be able to perceive distinctions that the great majority of people do not; to see ambiguity where others do not; to see both sides of an argument or issue and be able to be unconcerned about which side is correct (Wiseman, 2006). Key analytical skills relate to a collection of qualities that include the capacity to recognize difficulties, appropriate tools, and potential hurdles while embracing uncertainty and problem-solving creatively (Harner, 2011). Critical thinking is an important practical talent for solving legal problems, especially if the law student has gone beyond the simplistic formalism practiced in Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) the early stages of legal education. After receiving a detailed detail of the problem, the student can interpret the information, analyze whether it lacks information, make unsaid assumptions and implicit prejudices, evaluate its accuracy and reliability, and summarize the results of its interpretation, analysis, and evaluation to determine if there are more details. or required information from another source and identify the most appropriate legal rules to follow when drafting the board. After completing the required legal research, the student can use their critical thinking skills to explain the rules and doctrines found; analyze the information to determine its basic structure; assess relevance and reliability; and summarizes the conclusions reached to draw a reasonable and convincing conclusion on the legal issue and to make the appropriate consultation to the client (James & Burton, 2017). Legal reasoning skills are one of the primary characteristics required of legal practitioners. It is also emphasized in legal education as a primary goal. Legal reasoning has been proven to be a challenging talent, particularly at the beginning of studies, because students have not yet accumulated a broad knowledge base of the legal area. Some students also struggle to put their information into reality, such as when solving problems (Fleurie, 2010). Law students frequently perceive justice as a black-or-white process in which the present legal system can only provide one proper conclusion. Furthermore, students frequently want professors to give them a clear approach or model for solving legal challenges that lead to a single proper answer, and when teachers point out that the case has a range of circumstances that might lead to alternate conclusions, students can get perplexed. Legal reasoning, on the other hand, has been characterized as a complicated cognitive capacity that practitioners of the legal profession are supposed to possess (James, 2002). 3. Explaining Legal Reasoning The practice of using legal bases in legal arguments is called legal reasoning. Judges must apply the law to the circumstances of the case in order to impose legal requirements or justify the conduct of law-abiding persons (Steven, 2018). It is a process of interpreting and applying legal laws and principles (Chloe, 2018). Legal reasoning has been linked to numerous characteristics that are significant to legal practitioners, as both of these definitions illustrate. On the one hand, legal reasoning necessitates a broad understanding of the legal system, including legal rules and statutes (William & David, 2010). Legal thinking, on the other hand, may be seen of as a set of abilities needed in the legal profession, including analyzing legal concepts, organizing facts into legal categories, and assessing ethical standards (Nancy, 1992). Closely related to legal reasoning is the process of resolving a legal issue, in which lawyers determine the applicable rules, apply the rules critically to the facts of the situation, and predict the possible outcome with a convincing conclusion (Fleurie, 2013). Taking these perspectives together, legal reasoning entails not only a Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) thorough understanding of the legal system, but also a set of skills and a willingness to use those skills in analyzing and applying that knowledge to reach sound conclusions, solve problems, and deal with legal issues in a way that sets it apart from other types of reasoning. The many notions of legal reasoning are likewise intertwined with general competency definitions. Competencies are the ability to use certain combinations of information, abilities, and attitudes in specific situations (Liesbeth & Lotte, 2011). A comprehensive competency model also incorporates social and conceptual capabilities. Meta-competencies like as reflection and learning to learn are also included (Françoise & Jonathan, 2005). Furthermore, the idea or phrase “think like a lawyer” is often used to describe the attitude of lawyers, especially judges, before and when solving legal problems, such as analytical and logical thinking (Stephen,1998). In addition, "thinking like a competent lawyer" is associated with an ethically impartial approach to worthless legal issues. The nature of the process of legal reasoning and problem-solving is considered general and consistent with the legal system, meaning that lawyers can discover and evaluate relevant institutions through inductive reasoning (William & David, 2010). Legal decision-making involves making decisions in cases of ambiguity. At each stage of the process, the decision maker must assess whether there is sufficient evidence, whether the remaining uncertainty is acceptable, and whether action should be taken or postponed. A prosecutor can always conduct further investigations and the supervisor can always request additional investigations. To determine when and how to take action, it is necessary to assess the current level of uncertainty, the costs and benefits of obtaining more information, and the risks and benefits of taking action without additional evidence. Given that these resource issues need to be taken into account, legal reasoning is pragmatic. It is, therefore, not surprising that the legal profession often ignores formal systems that are not necessary to address legal issues. 4. Legal Education in Pakistan Legal education is built on the foundation of the legal system. Legal education in Pakistan is mostly theory-based and focuses on domain knowledge that students are supposed to learn in order to address legal challenges. Traditional lectures are extremely teacher-centered in nature, and they don't assist in problem-solving or help students create their own knowledge of the subject matter very well. Pedagogical research on legal reasoning is scarce, despite the fact that it is regarded as a key ability of the legal profession (Anna, 2019). One explanation might be that teaching legal reasoning in law schools is difficult, as it is less tangible than the foundations of substantive legal disciplines and plainly not founded on statutes or cases (Chloe, 2018). This is possibly due to the fact that legal reasoning is not expressly taught in Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) legal education. As a result, it is critical to investigate how students understand legal reasoning since it might have major implications for their learning and future careers as lawyers. In Semester III, students are taught three credits of logic and reasoning, according to the current LLB curriculum. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) has approved this syllabus, which has been ratified by the Legal Education Rules 2015, as revised in 2018 (HEC LLB Curriculum, 2015). This syllabus has been accepted by all universities in Pakistan for the 5-year semester-based LLB degree program offered by the Department of Law. Inductive and deductive reasoning, informal reasoning, and critical thinking issues such as observation, context, criteria, and procedures for developing a conclusion are all covered in logic and reasoning. Unfortunately, legal reasoning incorporating critical argument is not covered in this course. Although there are several sources of legal skills and information, the course curriculum does not provide instruction on how to apply some of the norms of legal reasoning. Academic practice, logical reasoning, critical analysis, and the construction of a cohesive argument are not covered in this course. These scientific analysis abilities and knowledge help law students evaluate various facts and laws in order to establish or disprove various parts of cases before a court of law. The study of formal reasoning systems and the study of the arguments of natural language in logic are used to study and classify the structure of statements and arguments. These are only true and false statements (explanatory sentences are used for statements, not questions, instructions, or words that express wishes). It is not concerned with psychological thought-related processes, such as emotions, images, and so on. It covers important topics such as fallacies and paradoxes, as well as a thorough study of reasoning through probability and argumentation using causality and argumentation theory. On the other hand, the way a person applies the law to the facts in order to solve legal problems is known as legal reasoning. Good legal reasoning requires a logical argument. In legal reasoning, students must apply legal concepts to specific factual situations in order to draw the most logical conclusion. There are different views on the meaning of the rule of law and its application. If the meaning of the rule of law is unclear, the person will base his or her legal reasoning on the interpretation he or she deems most convincing or useful. Conclude on the basis of statements made without allowing deviations. However, if a law student just memorizes certain legal concepts, he or she will be unprepared to practice law after graduation since these students will focus mostly on remembering knowledge and following what has already been established in practice. Such students lack critical thinking skills and make no attempt to conceive or establish new concepts or legal ideas. Typically, such students begin learning after completing a legal degree and before beginning to practice law. Due to the lack of a Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) legal reasoning module, students are unsure of the distinction between a personal view and an argument, as well as how to approach multiple sources in a methodical manner to clarify one's case. As a result, they are unable to scientifically approach social concepts of life and improve their writing and spoken communication abilities. There are several steps in the legal reasoning process. To begin, the provided ideas are valued by recognizing their advantages. Second, holes in a person's stated thoughts or explanations are found. Finally, to cover the vacuum in the other person's argument or explanation, an alternate explanation or notion is provided. Second, there is a capacity issue that is preventing the formation of a critical thinking culture. To be critical, one must have a thorough understanding of existing works. As a result, a law student is unable to evaluate previously published materials. Furthermore, law students are not encouraged to critically assess the texts on the curriculum during class lectures or exercises. This will entail the introduction of legal reasoning as a subject in the LLB curriculum's third semester. 5. Developing Legal Reasoning in Legal Education in Pakistan Transitioning to university to study law can be a challenge for students, as access to law in higher education varies depending on the curriculum of different nations. In Pakistan, for example, common sense has been used to develop legal reasoning. Legal reasoning develops and represents a long, probably lifelong process that requires students to have metacognitive skills to manage and understand their own learning processes, as well as the ability to share their learning and thoughts. check and consider (Anne, Heidi, Tarja & Sakari, 2022). During the legal education of a law student, legal reasoning is learned indirectly and continuously, because he has to solve legal problems in almost all law classes. All law students receive a clear education from a formal legal rationale, usually as part of an introductory law course in their first year of law school. The following is a description, analysis, and synthesis of relevant academic material for teaching explicit and implicit legal reasoning. Any legal educator who asks students to participate in legal reasoning and problem-solving could find many ideas about the scope of legal reasoning and how students can accept instructions. There is a wealth of academic literature on the nature of legal reasoning and the teaching of reasoning and problem-solving skills to law students, including texts primarily for students who interpret legal reasoning as a necessary skill for both studies and law practice; written texts for students that explain legal reasoning as a necessary skill for law studies and practice. There are written texts for students that explain legal reasoning as a skill needed for both study and practice. Texts aimed primarily at law academies as teachers, proposing methods for teaching legal reasoning or encouraging the extension of the scope of “legal reasoning” beyond the traditional emphasis on formalist reasoning. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) Law students can identify and articulate legal problems, apply reasoning and legal research to obtain appropriate answers to legal problems, perform critical analysis and informed choices between alternatives and think creatively in problem-solving, legal questions and creating appropriate answers. The inclusion of thinking skills as a required component of legal education is unlikely to prove controversial or problematic. The capacity to ‘think like a lawyer’ is usually cited as one of the most valuable results of legal education. The expression ‘think like a lawyer’ has a variety of connotations, although it is most commonly associated with ‘legal reasoning.’ Thinking abilities, reasoning skills, critical judgment, and other similar terms appear regularly on lists of ideal graduate traits for law students. Students who complete the LLB degree should be able to identify, analyze and define legal issues, possess legal research skills that enable the graduate to apply the relevant legal material, able to apply a critical approach to legal issues based on independent thinking and judgment based on an understanding of the principles and concepts of law, principles, policies and values on which the law is based and permeated and can critically assess legal issues through independent thinking and decision-making based on an understanding of legal principles and concepts, principles and legal policies. 6. Importance of Teaching Legal Reasoning in Pakistan The legal profession depends heavily on sources of information and legal knowledge; therefore, the purpose of legal education is not only to develop and study legal doctrine and theories in certain areas of law, but also to help students understand the problems so that they can operate and apply legal knowledge. Legal education is based on the purpose of students learning to deal with legal issues in their studies to solve cases during their law graduation. However, it is simply the teachers, especially when they start teaching, who place more emphasis on mastery than on the use of this information to solve problems. Therefore, it is crucial that teaching focuses not only on providing legal information but also on helping students to apply that knowledge or develop their skills. Students should learn about the legal system and legal reasoning abilities in the same way that they learn other comprehension and reasoning skills. Students receive a legal education through learning how our judges and lawmakers operate inside a system. Students are well prepared to participate fully in the political and legal process if they understand how judges review and resolve issues, as well as how legislators work together legally. More broadly, teaching law to students will provide them with a set of thinking abilities that will be useful in a variety of situations. Legal reasoning, which is more than merely following the rules, alters how individuals approach tough challenges by equipping them with the skills they need to arrange facts and values in order to reach a rational and actionable conclusion. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) Legal reasoning, like many other complicated disciplines, is rarely black and white. Students will not only learn how to apply a basic rule to a circumstance but also how to consider how laws should be implemented. Another significant benefit of studying law is that it enables students to learn to reason by analogy. Such logic understands that while one circumstance may have some parallels to others, it is nevertheless distinct. Legal reasoning enables students to think about the situation's specifics as well as the similarities it may have with others. However, the fact that it is difficult for students to express legal reasoning does not mean that they have not applied it; it just means they didn’t know it. As a result, legal education should focus more on teaching students about legal reasoning, such as legal reasoning growth and metacognitive abilities like problem-solving techniques Not only in higher education is it vital to develop legal reasoning and promote meta- cognition skills, but, more importantly, in law practice. 7. Inclusion of Legal Reasoning Course in LLB Curriculum in Pakistan A new module on legal reasoning should be included in the LLB curriculum. The main goal of this course should be to acquaint third-semester law students with the most advanced legal ideas, principles and practices, the legal system and the legal profession. The goal is for these qualities to be progressively based on the self- knowledge of law students so that they can use them to study substantive law subjects and better understand the topics and meanings of the topics taught in the courses. At frequent sessions, teachers will oversee students in small groups, allowing for debate and immediate feedback. Legal reasoning is transformational because it gives students a feeling of self-identity as a lawyer; it allows them to pass through a gate of understanding what it means to be a lawyer. Once a student has been introduced to legal reasoning, they will be able to see the other side, realize that there is no correct answer, understand that they must think thoroughly about meaning and argument, and be persuasive. The ability to use legal reasoning allows students to problematize and analyze situations with ease; to test facts as well as issue boundaries and limits. Legal reasoning is integrative because it helps students grasp what attorneys (solicitors, barristers, judges, etc.) do: why many views and arguments are conceivable. Legal reasoning teaches students about the interconnected nature of the legal argument culture, as well as the relevance of authority and evidence in the effectiveness of legal arguments. Legal reasoning is a difficult subject for students to grasp since it contradicts some of their past beliefs (or everyday methods of understanding things) prior to entering law school, forcing them out of their comfort zone. It entails knowing how to accept responsibility for your argument and viewpoint. It challenges the possibility of making claims without supporting them, or of discovering a single 'correct' response. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) It pushes students to rethink, and potentially revise, their preconceived notions about what law is and what it can accomplish. While developing a curriculum to promote legal reasoning in law schools, it is important to consider teacher's perception of the importance of this skill, teaching in the classroom, and the challenges they will face in the observing process. Students should be introduced to the basic substance of modern law as well as the discipline of legal reasoning in a legal reasoning course. These two will complement each other. Law cannot be properly comprehended without taking into account the unique perspectives of attorneys, judges, and other legal experts. Students should be able to identify the main disciplines of law and their fundamental institutions, recognize and discern the principal values underlying those branches, and comprehend the nature of legal reasoning and be able to apply it to legal situations after completing the course. In terms of legal reasoning, students will be asked to write a text that will explain how law may be utilized as a policy tool for regulatory and redistributive reasons. In this regard, the course will feature a ‘workshop’ in which students will analyze a high-profile judgment and identify the logical steps made by the court to defend its decision. 8. Teaching Legal Reasoning to Law Students in Pakistan The law student must first be made aware of his technique of thinking; secondly he must be made to doubt its validity; and lastly, he must be made aware of the need to improve it. The law school classroom discourse allows the student to begin this questioning process by requiring him to pay attention to his own cognitive processes. However, when legal educators attempt to teach reasoning without first addressing its underlying concepts, the training may be unsuccessful, and the goal of teaching the skill of reasoning is frequently not met. Students may learn to apply some of the rules of reasoning while staying mostly unconscious of what they are doing since the concepts underpinning the process of legal reasoning are rarely defined. As a result, certain principles are never used, while others are only used sometimes. The student's reasoning skills may grow, but how and to what extent is essentially a matter of chance. If a student's reasoning skill is to increase beyond chance, the principles underpinning the art and science of reasoning must first be established, and then applied to the subject matter, in this instance law. The rule of purpose is the fundamental premise of sound thinking. There must be something to think about before one can think well; the more precisely defined the topic matter of the thinking process is, the clearer and more precise the thinking about that subject matter will be. Before an issue can be addressed, the thinker must first acknowledge that it exists and, more importantly, what type of problem it is. To put it another way, sound thinking is purposeful. The more precisely an issue is stated, the more manageable it becomes, the less likely one is to follow Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) erroneous paths to a solution, and the more exact one's thoughts about the problem will become. As a result, the issue must be defined in the most straightforward possible manner. This principle's use in legal education, notably in case method analysis, should be obvious. One of the first tasks a law student will be given is to recognize and articulate the legal matter for determination. Typically, the law professor will not proceed until the problem has been properly and correctly stated. If the student fails to do so in the first instance, he will be questioned until he is able to recognize his mistake and has rethought the case sufficiently to provide a clear presentation of the problem that the judge writing the judgment was asked to determine. The opinion cannot be understood until the subject is well specified; conversely, the more clearly stated the topic, the better the clarity and grasp of the case analysis. The declaration of the problem to be solved is, of course, the issue in a case; so, stating the issue is defining the problem. As a result, the law professor's attempt to instill an issue orientation to legal materials in his pupils is nothing more than an application of the rule of purpose. Legal reasoning is difficult to teach, yet it is frequently taught to law students dealing with substantive law difficulties. Legal education should attempt to teach students how to think like lawyers and how to develop legal reasoning in a systematic way. It is critical for students to face this uncertain process and grasp that, while legal reasoning may not appear to be incorrect in terms of the notion of the final proper answer to a legal problem, it is typically characterized by the potential to arrive at a number of interpretations. Legal reasoning is an important practical skill for solving legal problems, especially when a law student goes beyond the basic formalism he studied in law school. Expectations about a student’s ability to participate in legal reasoning should grow as he or she graduates from law school. Teachers who teach these courses would receive the resources, attendance, and time required to improve an LLB degree in this way. An important goal should be to teach students to learn on their own. A redesigned curriculum will reduce content development and introduce a competency development factor so that students have the tools for legal reasoning to explore key areas of law that may not be covered in a particular subject. 9. Conclusions It has been shown that legal education should be aimed at educating students to think like a lawyer and that the development of legal opinion should be actively invigorated. It is important for students to face this uncertain process and recognize that legal reasoning does not entail an easy misunderstanding of the correct ultimate response to a legal challenge, but rather indicates that legal reasoning and legal decision-making are common practice in general, for the possibility of access to various interpretations. As a result, legal reasoning, an element of discipline-specific Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) skills, should be taught as part of the curriculum. In law faculties, a fundamental introduction to legal reasoning should be taught as a philosophical concept as well as a skills method procedure. Law students must learn to summarize, argue, synthesize, criticize, organize, and assess information. The requirement to develop analytical and critical thinking abilities is definitely a basic purpose of a law school, since it is commonly argued that law students must learn to think like lawyers. It is critical to provide law students with a strategy for conducting legal analyses. In addition, learning procedures need to be improved to help students acquire legal reasoning skills, and student-centered pedagogical approaches, such as problem- based learning and case-based learning, need to be used. Students are encouraged to be active as well as to participate and participate in class discussions. Therefore, legal reasoning can be promoted through small group discussions, under the supervision of teachers who encourage oral and written debate, argumentation and problem solving, and feedback to students. Second, students need to be encouraged to think about what they have learned. Based on prior school performance, law students are regarded as strong students with good study abilities, including meta- learning skills, and the development of meta-cognition skills should be included in legal education. Moreover, the fundamental need of students to develop legal opinion should be linked to the role of legal professionals in society and their culture of legal professionals. Legal practice is a highly specialized field in which qualified experts study, develop and replicate the legal order and practice in modern society. In this specialized professional culture, lawyers act and interconnect with their unique legal language and style of reasoning and argumentation, but they are connected to a society where there is a culture of lawyers. In this regard, it is stated that the purpose of legal education is to promote competition in the principles of legal culture, and not to provide comprehensive knowledge of the law at the superficial level. If lawyers are conversant with the fundamentals of legal culture and how to apply them, they will be able to learn and apply more discursive knowledge. Legal reasoning is inextricably linked to legal culture, which is a subset of the legal system consisting of concepts and practices that are part of the self-understanding of legal professionals. In legal education, it is important to teach students the legal considerations and help them to understand them more deeply. In this context, legal education plays a key role in the development of legal culture. As a result, legal reasoning should be taught as a discipline-specific competence in the LLB curriculum. Furthermore, teaching procedures should be improved to assist students' legal reasoning skills, which necessitates the use of student-centered pedagogical approaches such as problem-based learning and case-based learning. Students are encouraged to be active, as well as engage and participate in class discussions. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) Acknowledgements The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and editor for their valuable contribution. Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not–for–profit sectors. Authors Contribution The entire article was written by Muhammad Imran Ali. Disclosure Statement The authors have not any competing financial, professional, or personal interests from other parties. References 1. Anna, B-E., (2019). Discipline Context Shapes Meaningful Teaching: A Case Study of Academic Law. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 43, pp. 508–517. 2. Anne, H-M., Heidi, H., Tarja, T., Sakari, M., (2022). Law students’ descriptions of legal reasoning. The Law Teacher. DOI: 10.1080/03069400.2022.2057754 3. Boyer, A., (1985). Legal writing program reviewed: Merits, flaws, costs, and essentials. Chicago-Kent Law Review, 62(1), pp. 23–54. 4. Chloe, W., (2018). The Pedagogy of Legal Reasoning: Democracy, Discourse and Community. The Law Teacher, 52, pp. 260–262. 5. Fleurie, N., (2013). The Worked Example and Expertise Reversal Effect in Less Structured Tasks: Learning to Reason about Legal Cases. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38, pp. 118–19. 6. Françoise, D. L. D, Jonathan, W., (2005). What Is Competence?. Human Resource Development International, 8, pp. 27–39. 7. Harner, M. M., (2011). The value of “thinking like a lawyer”. Maryland Law Review, 70(2), pp. 101–130. 8. James, N., Burton, K., (2017). Measuring the critical thinking skills of law students using a whole-of curriculum approach. Legal Education Review, 27, pp. 1–20. 9. James, S., (2002). When Law Students Read Cases: Exploring Relations between Professional Legal Reasoning Roles and Problem Detection. Discourse Processes, 34, pp. 57–60. 10. Liesbeth, B., Lotte, R., (2011). Comparing Students Perceived and Actual Competence in Higher Vocational Education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 36, pp. 385– 11. LLB Curriculum, (2015). Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. https://hec.gov.pk/english/services/universities/RevisedCurricula/Documents/2014- 15/Final%20Curriculum%20%20LLB.pdf [Accessed 29 April 2022]. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) 12. Melissa, W., (2014). Stargate: Malleability as a Threshold Concept in Legal Education. J Legal Educ, 63, pp. 689–689. 13. Nancy, S., (1992). How Do Lawyers Really Think?. J Legal Educ, 42, pp. 57–60. 14. Natt Gantt, L., (2007). Deconstructing thinking like a lawyer: Analyzing the cognitive components of the analytical mind. Campbell Law Review, 29(3), pp. 413–481. 15. Nievelstein, F., Van Gog, T., Boshuizen, H.P.A., (2010). Effects of Conceptual Knowledge and Availability of Information Sources on Law Students’ Legal Reasoning”. Instr Sci, 38, pp. 23–35. 16. Rice, S. M., (2015). Leveraging logical form in legal argument: The inherent ambiguity in logical disjunction and its implication in legal argument. Oklahoma City University Law Review, 40(3), pp. 551–596. 17. Spreng, J. E., (2015). Spirals and schemas: How integrated courses in law schools create higher-order thinkers and problem solvers. University of La Verne Law Review, 37(1), pp. 37–102. 18. Stephen, W., (1998). Is Learning to ‘Think like a Lawyer’ Enough?. Yale L & Pol’y Rev, 17, pp. 583–587. 19. Steven, B., (1995). An Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning, 2nd edition. Little, Brown and Company. 20. Venter, C. M., (2006). Analyze this: Using taxonomies to “scaffold” students’ legal thinking and writing skills. Mercer Law Review, 57(2), pp. 621–644. 21. William, T., David, M., (2010). How to Do Things with Rules, 5th Edition. CUP, pp. 337–38. 22. Wiseman, P., (2006). When you come to a fork in the road, take it and other sage advice for first-time law school exam takers. Georgia State University Law Review, 22(3), pp. 653– Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Legal Studies de Gruyter

Teaching Legal Reasoning to Law Students in Pakistan: Need for Reforms in LLB Curriculum

Journal of Legal Studies , Volume 30 (44): 14 – Dec 1, 2022

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de Gruyter
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© 2022 Muhammad Imran Ali, published by Sciendo
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2392-7054
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10.2478/jles-2022-0013
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Abstract

2022 – 30(44) DOI: 10.2478/jles-2022-0013 TEACHING LEGAL REASONING TO LAW STUDENTS IN PAKISTAN: NEED FOR REFORMS IN LLB CURRICULUM Muhammad Imran Ali Department of Law Lahore Leads University Pakistan E-mail: Imran.ali@leads.edu.pk (Received: May 2022; Accepted: July 2022; Published: November 2022) Abstract: Legal education is the method for preserving the rule of law, which is the fundamental premise upon which contemporary nations political and legal underpinnings are built. Legal thinking skills are one of the primary characteristics required of legal practitioners. It is also emphasized in legal education as a primary goal. In Pakistani law schools, the notion of legal reasoning is frequently addressed but rarely articulated. However, in Pakistani law schools, the actual teaching of a skills method approach to legal reasoning as a process and a concept has rarely been properly described. Legal reasoning is not included in the LLB curriculum, which is a fundamental flaw in the legal education system. Legal reasoning will provide law students with a skill that will help them to secure their careers and may be used in a variety of disciplines. This paper will argue that the existing LLB curriculum in Pakistan needs to be reformed and legal reasoning should be included as a subject. Keywords: Legal Education; Legal Reasoning; LLB Curriculum Reforms; Pakistan. 1. Introduction Legal knowledge, both professional and general, is essential for human development. Law that is based on social demand and human need is an essential category that must be followed. Law requires a lot of education, both general and specialized, to be able to rule effectively. This is what we call legal education. Today's legal education must look for social issues and potential improvements so that it may be utilized as a tool for social reform and justice. Law graduates from universities and colleges would become not just future judges, attorneys, legal counsels, law officers, instructors, and researchers, but also responsible public and private sector personnel who would contribute to the country's general governance. The uniqueness of the topic of law places a distinct burden on law graduates. As a Corresponding author: Muhammad Imran Ali. E-mail: Imran.ali@leads.edu.pk Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by VGWU Press This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons BY 4.0 license (Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) result, law students should not only study law in its academic and practical elements but also learn about the people and society in which law is practiced. The ability to think in a particularly legal style is a necessary talent for success in the legal discourse (James & Burton, 2017). As a result, each program within the LLB curriculum should include the development of analytical and critical thinking abilities. Law faculties (law colleges) used to educate law students on how to think like a lawyer (Natt, 2007), while attorneys in practice taught law students how to act like lawyers or how to be a lawyer. Law faculties should educate both theory and skills. As a result, law faculties should teach both how to think like a lawyer and how to be a lawyer. If a student needs to learn to think like a lawyer and act like a lawyer, he or she will also need to learn to solve problems. The use of logical form is crucial in the creation and evaluation of legal arguments, and it may be found at all stages of the legal process. Law and the legal-reasoning process must be taught to students. This is significant because a legal argument's logical form can elevate it from legal analysis to legal persuasion. One of the most crucial aspects of effective advocacy is the logical framework of an argument. In Pakistan, law is a professional subject that requires an undergraduate degree. After completing the country's version of a bar test, graduates of such a curriculum are allowed to practice law. In Pakistan, the administration of universities and law institutions, as well as the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC), supervise and monitor legal education. The Higher Education Commission has been given the authority to oversee, maintain, and develop Pakistan's legal education quality and standards. Introduction to logic and reasoning is part of the LLB curriculum in Semester III, that is not enough to develop critical legal thinking in law students. Traditional formal logic has not been useful in the legal profession, because it is accompanied by deductive mathematical reasoning instead of the practical reasoning we use in law. A lawyer is in a pragmatic profession. Lawyers face an avalanche of legal issues that need their attention and have developed their own ways to help them and think about those issues. Lawyers have limited time for formal theories that do not fit their thinking or that help to address professional issues more effectively or efficiently. The current LLB curriculum has to be revamped to incorporate legal reasoning as a subject to assist law students in their roles as attorneys, problem solvers, arbitrators, counselors, negotiators, and administrators. 2. Legal Reasoning and Critical Analysis It is critical to guarantee that students gain the skills to do research, analyze legal authority, and write or prepare legal papers with a logical framework of arguments as part of their legal education (Rice, 2015). Students must learn to solve issues, debate persuasively, and effectively communicate. Students must be able to analyze Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) legal texts, which will eventually lead to logical thinking, structuring, organization, and, most significantly, the resolution of legal issues (Boyer, 1985). Students must understand the law and the legal-reasoning process, and logical form plays an important role in constructing and assessing legal arguments at every stage of the lawyering process. This is significant because a legal argument's logical form can elevate it from legal analysis to legal persuasion. One of the most crucial aspects of effective advocacy is the logical framework of an argument. To be an effective practicing lawyer, it needs more than thinking like a lawyer; analytical abilities provide a solid basis on which attorneys may serve their clients (Venter, 2006). Problem-solving, legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, factual inquiry, and communication are all essential lawyering abilities. All of these abilities emphasize the importance of being able to think critically and analytically (Spreng, 2015). No matter what the conditions are, analysis is a certain method of thinking about issues, gathering information from many sources, analogizing fact patterns, extrapolating laws, synthesizing and strategizing, and creating predictions. Students must be able to explain and apply the law, construct compelling arguments, and, of course, exercise proper authority (Venter, 2006). The two sides of the same coin are legal analysis and critical legal thought. Students will require legal thinking and critical analytical abilities. Students are taught not just to think about facts, but also to identify issues, apply the law to the issues, and come to a conclusion while improving their capacity to undertake fundamental legal analysis, regardless of the technique or model used. Students should be able to add comparisons, identification of benefits and drawbacks, strengths and weaknesses, and acknowledgment of multiple points of view on the same subject to their analysis in addition to this basic organization of their thoughts. For the purposes of legal education, “critical thinking” is defined as the careful and serious examination of a legal statement, claim, argument, judgment, stance, or action against a set of specific criteria or standards. It is a way of thinking about legal issues that is characterized by the law student's inability to accept the target of criticism at face value. Instead, the student insists on making his own judgment and coming to his own conclusion by interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating the object of critique in a rigorous, open-minded, and even-handed manner (James & Burton, 2017). To think like a lawyer, one must be able to perceive distinctions that the great majority of people do not; to see ambiguity where others do not; to see both sides of an argument or issue and be able to be unconcerned about which side is correct (Wiseman, 2006). Key analytical skills relate to a collection of qualities that include the capacity to recognize difficulties, appropriate tools, and potential hurdles while embracing uncertainty and problem-solving creatively (Harner, 2011). Critical thinking is an important practical talent for solving legal problems, especially if the law student has gone beyond the simplistic formalism practiced in Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) the early stages of legal education. After receiving a detailed detail of the problem, the student can interpret the information, analyze whether it lacks information, make unsaid assumptions and implicit prejudices, evaluate its accuracy and reliability, and summarize the results of its interpretation, analysis, and evaluation to determine if there are more details. or required information from another source and identify the most appropriate legal rules to follow when drafting the board. After completing the required legal research, the student can use their critical thinking skills to explain the rules and doctrines found; analyze the information to determine its basic structure; assess relevance and reliability; and summarizes the conclusions reached to draw a reasonable and convincing conclusion on the legal issue and to make the appropriate consultation to the client (James & Burton, 2017). Legal reasoning skills are one of the primary characteristics required of legal practitioners. It is also emphasized in legal education as a primary goal. Legal reasoning has been proven to be a challenging talent, particularly at the beginning of studies, because students have not yet accumulated a broad knowledge base of the legal area. Some students also struggle to put their information into reality, such as when solving problems (Fleurie, 2010). Law students frequently perceive justice as a black-or-white process in which the present legal system can only provide one proper conclusion. Furthermore, students frequently want professors to give them a clear approach or model for solving legal challenges that lead to a single proper answer, and when teachers point out that the case has a range of circumstances that might lead to alternate conclusions, students can get perplexed. Legal reasoning, on the other hand, has been characterized as a complicated cognitive capacity that practitioners of the legal profession are supposed to possess (James, 2002). 3. Explaining Legal Reasoning The practice of using legal bases in legal arguments is called legal reasoning. Judges must apply the law to the circumstances of the case in order to impose legal requirements or justify the conduct of law-abiding persons (Steven, 2018). It is a process of interpreting and applying legal laws and principles (Chloe, 2018). Legal reasoning has been linked to numerous characteristics that are significant to legal practitioners, as both of these definitions illustrate. On the one hand, legal reasoning necessitates a broad understanding of the legal system, including legal rules and statutes (William & David, 2010). Legal thinking, on the other hand, may be seen of as a set of abilities needed in the legal profession, including analyzing legal concepts, organizing facts into legal categories, and assessing ethical standards (Nancy, 1992). Closely related to legal reasoning is the process of resolving a legal issue, in which lawyers determine the applicable rules, apply the rules critically to the facts of the situation, and predict the possible outcome with a convincing conclusion (Fleurie, 2013). Taking these perspectives together, legal reasoning entails not only a Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) thorough understanding of the legal system, but also a set of skills and a willingness to use those skills in analyzing and applying that knowledge to reach sound conclusions, solve problems, and deal with legal issues in a way that sets it apart from other types of reasoning. The many notions of legal reasoning are likewise intertwined with general competency definitions. Competencies are the ability to use certain combinations of information, abilities, and attitudes in specific situations (Liesbeth & Lotte, 2011). A comprehensive competency model also incorporates social and conceptual capabilities. Meta-competencies like as reflection and learning to learn are also included (Françoise & Jonathan, 2005). Furthermore, the idea or phrase “think like a lawyer” is often used to describe the attitude of lawyers, especially judges, before and when solving legal problems, such as analytical and logical thinking (Stephen,1998). In addition, "thinking like a competent lawyer" is associated with an ethically impartial approach to worthless legal issues. The nature of the process of legal reasoning and problem-solving is considered general and consistent with the legal system, meaning that lawyers can discover and evaluate relevant institutions through inductive reasoning (William & David, 2010). Legal decision-making involves making decisions in cases of ambiguity. At each stage of the process, the decision maker must assess whether there is sufficient evidence, whether the remaining uncertainty is acceptable, and whether action should be taken or postponed. A prosecutor can always conduct further investigations and the supervisor can always request additional investigations. To determine when and how to take action, it is necessary to assess the current level of uncertainty, the costs and benefits of obtaining more information, and the risks and benefits of taking action without additional evidence. Given that these resource issues need to be taken into account, legal reasoning is pragmatic. It is, therefore, not surprising that the legal profession often ignores formal systems that are not necessary to address legal issues. 4. Legal Education in Pakistan Legal education is built on the foundation of the legal system. Legal education in Pakistan is mostly theory-based and focuses on domain knowledge that students are supposed to learn in order to address legal challenges. Traditional lectures are extremely teacher-centered in nature, and they don't assist in problem-solving or help students create their own knowledge of the subject matter very well. Pedagogical research on legal reasoning is scarce, despite the fact that it is regarded as a key ability of the legal profession (Anna, 2019). One explanation might be that teaching legal reasoning in law schools is difficult, as it is less tangible than the foundations of substantive legal disciplines and plainly not founded on statutes or cases (Chloe, 2018). This is possibly due to the fact that legal reasoning is not expressly taught in Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) legal education. As a result, it is critical to investigate how students understand legal reasoning since it might have major implications for their learning and future careers as lawyers. In Semester III, students are taught three credits of logic and reasoning, according to the current LLB curriculum. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) has approved this syllabus, which has been ratified by the Legal Education Rules 2015, as revised in 2018 (HEC LLB Curriculum, 2015). This syllabus has been accepted by all universities in Pakistan for the 5-year semester-based LLB degree program offered by the Department of Law. Inductive and deductive reasoning, informal reasoning, and critical thinking issues such as observation, context, criteria, and procedures for developing a conclusion are all covered in logic and reasoning. Unfortunately, legal reasoning incorporating critical argument is not covered in this course. Although there are several sources of legal skills and information, the course curriculum does not provide instruction on how to apply some of the norms of legal reasoning. Academic practice, logical reasoning, critical analysis, and the construction of a cohesive argument are not covered in this course. These scientific analysis abilities and knowledge help law students evaluate various facts and laws in order to establish or disprove various parts of cases before a court of law. The study of formal reasoning systems and the study of the arguments of natural language in logic are used to study and classify the structure of statements and arguments. These are only true and false statements (explanatory sentences are used for statements, not questions, instructions, or words that express wishes). It is not concerned with psychological thought-related processes, such as emotions, images, and so on. It covers important topics such as fallacies and paradoxes, as well as a thorough study of reasoning through probability and argumentation using causality and argumentation theory. On the other hand, the way a person applies the law to the facts in order to solve legal problems is known as legal reasoning. Good legal reasoning requires a logical argument. In legal reasoning, students must apply legal concepts to specific factual situations in order to draw the most logical conclusion. There are different views on the meaning of the rule of law and its application. If the meaning of the rule of law is unclear, the person will base his or her legal reasoning on the interpretation he or she deems most convincing or useful. Conclude on the basis of statements made without allowing deviations. However, if a law student just memorizes certain legal concepts, he or she will be unprepared to practice law after graduation since these students will focus mostly on remembering knowledge and following what has already been established in practice. Such students lack critical thinking skills and make no attempt to conceive or establish new concepts or legal ideas. Typically, such students begin learning after completing a legal degree and before beginning to practice law. Due to the lack of a Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) legal reasoning module, students are unsure of the distinction between a personal view and an argument, as well as how to approach multiple sources in a methodical manner to clarify one's case. As a result, they are unable to scientifically approach social concepts of life and improve their writing and spoken communication abilities. There are several steps in the legal reasoning process. To begin, the provided ideas are valued by recognizing their advantages. Second, holes in a person's stated thoughts or explanations are found. Finally, to cover the vacuum in the other person's argument or explanation, an alternate explanation or notion is provided. Second, there is a capacity issue that is preventing the formation of a critical thinking culture. To be critical, one must have a thorough understanding of existing works. As a result, a law student is unable to evaluate previously published materials. Furthermore, law students are not encouraged to critically assess the texts on the curriculum during class lectures or exercises. This will entail the introduction of legal reasoning as a subject in the LLB curriculum's third semester. 5. Developing Legal Reasoning in Legal Education in Pakistan Transitioning to university to study law can be a challenge for students, as access to law in higher education varies depending on the curriculum of different nations. In Pakistan, for example, common sense has been used to develop legal reasoning. Legal reasoning develops and represents a long, probably lifelong process that requires students to have metacognitive skills to manage and understand their own learning processes, as well as the ability to share their learning and thoughts. check and consider (Anne, Heidi, Tarja & Sakari, 2022). During the legal education of a law student, legal reasoning is learned indirectly and continuously, because he has to solve legal problems in almost all law classes. All law students receive a clear education from a formal legal rationale, usually as part of an introductory law course in their first year of law school. The following is a description, analysis, and synthesis of relevant academic material for teaching explicit and implicit legal reasoning. Any legal educator who asks students to participate in legal reasoning and problem-solving could find many ideas about the scope of legal reasoning and how students can accept instructions. There is a wealth of academic literature on the nature of legal reasoning and the teaching of reasoning and problem-solving skills to law students, including texts primarily for students who interpret legal reasoning as a necessary skill for both studies and law practice; written texts for students that explain legal reasoning as a necessary skill for law studies and practice. There are written texts for students that explain legal reasoning as a skill needed for both study and practice. Texts aimed primarily at law academies as teachers, proposing methods for teaching legal reasoning or encouraging the extension of the scope of “legal reasoning” beyond the traditional emphasis on formalist reasoning. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) Law students can identify and articulate legal problems, apply reasoning and legal research to obtain appropriate answers to legal problems, perform critical analysis and informed choices between alternatives and think creatively in problem-solving, legal questions and creating appropriate answers. The inclusion of thinking skills as a required component of legal education is unlikely to prove controversial or problematic. The capacity to ‘think like a lawyer’ is usually cited as one of the most valuable results of legal education. The expression ‘think like a lawyer’ has a variety of connotations, although it is most commonly associated with ‘legal reasoning.’ Thinking abilities, reasoning skills, critical judgment, and other similar terms appear regularly on lists of ideal graduate traits for law students. Students who complete the LLB degree should be able to identify, analyze and define legal issues, possess legal research skills that enable the graduate to apply the relevant legal material, able to apply a critical approach to legal issues based on independent thinking and judgment based on an understanding of the principles and concepts of law, principles, policies and values on which the law is based and permeated and can critically assess legal issues through independent thinking and decision-making based on an understanding of legal principles and concepts, principles and legal policies. 6. Importance of Teaching Legal Reasoning in Pakistan The legal profession depends heavily on sources of information and legal knowledge; therefore, the purpose of legal education is not only to develop and study legal doctrine and theories in certain areas of law, but also to help students understand the problems so that they can operate and apply legal knowledge. Legal education is based on the purpose of students learning to deal with legal issues in their studies to solve cases during their law graduation. However, it is simply the teachers, especially when they start teaching, who place more emphasis on mastery than on the use of this information to solve problems. Therefore, it is crucial that teaching focuses not only on providing legal information but also on helping students to apply that knowledge or develop their skills. Students should learn about the legal system and legal reasoning abilities in the same way that they learn other comprehension and reasoning skills. Students receive a legal education through learning how our judges and lawmakers operate inside a system. Students are well prepared to participate fully in the political and legal process if they understand how judges review and resolve issues, as well as how legislators work together legally. More broadly, teaching law to students will provide them with a set of thinking abilities that will be useful in a variety of situations. Legal reasoning, which is more than merely following the rules, alters how individuals approach tough challenges by equipping them with the skills they need to arrange facts and values in order to reach a rational and actionable conclusion. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) Legal reasoning, like many other complicated disciplines, is rarely black and white. Students will not only learn how to apply a basic rule to a circumstance but also how to consider how laws should be implemented. Another significant benefit of studying law is that it enables students to learn to reason by analogy. Such logic understands that while one circumstance may have some parallels to others, it is nevertheless distinct. Legal reasoning enables students to think about the situation's specifics as well as the similarities it may have with others. However, the fact that it is difficult for students to express legal reasoning does not mean that they have not applied it; it just means they didn’t know it. As a result, legal education should focus more on teaching students about legal reasoning, such as legal reasoning growth and metacognitive abilities like problem-solving techniques Not only in higher education is it vital to develop legal reasoning and promote meta- cognition skills, but, more importantly, in law practice. 7. Inclusion of Legal Reasoning Course in LLB Curriculum in Pakistan A new module on legal reasoning should be included in the LLB curriculum. The main goal of this course should be to acquaint third-semester law students with the most advanced legal ideas, principles and practices, the legal system and the legal profession. The goal is for these qualities to be progressively based on the self- knowledge of law students so that they can use them to study substantive law subjects and better understand the topics and meanings of the topics taught in the courses. At frequent sessions, teachers will oversee students in small groups, allowing for debate and immediate feedback. Legal reasoning is transformational because it gives students a feeling of self-identity as a lawyer; it allows them to pass through a gate of understanding what it means to be a lawyer. Once a student has been introduced to legal reasoning, they will be able to see the other side, realize that there is no correct answer, understand that they must think thoroughly about meaning and argument, and be persuasive. The ability to use legal reasoning allows students to problematize and analyze situations with ease; to test facts as well as issue boundaries and limits. Legal reasoning is integrative because it helps students grasp what attorneys (solicitors, barristers, judges, etc.) do: why many views and arguments are conceivable. Legal reasoning teaches students about the interconnected nature of the legal argument culture, as well as the relevance of authority and evidence in the effectiveness of legal arguments. Legal reasoning is a difficult subject for students to grasp since it contradicts some of their past beliefs (or everyday methods of understanding things) prior to entering law school, forcing them out of their comfort zone. It entails knowing how to accept responsibility for your argument and viewpoint. It challenges the possibility of making claims without supporting them, or of discovering a single 'correct' response. Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) It pushes students to rethink, and potentially revise, their preconceived notions about what law is and what it can accomplish. While developing a curriculum to promote legal reasoning in law schools, it is important to consider teacher's perception of the importance of this skill, teaching in the classroom, and the challenges they will face in the observing process. Students should be introduced to the basic substance of modern law as well as the discipline of legal reasoning in a legal reasoning course. These two will complement each other. Law cannot be properly comprehended without taking into account the unique perspectives of attorneys, judges, and other legal experts. Students should be able to identify the main disciplines of law and their fundamental institutions, recognize and discern the principal values underlying those branches, and comprehend the nature of legal reasoning and be able to apply it to legal situations after completing the course. In terms of legal reasoning, students will be asked to write a text that will explain how law may be utilized as a policy tool for regulatory and redistributive reasons. In this regard, the course will feature a ‘workshop’ in which students will analyze a high-profile judgment and identify the logical steps made by the court to defend its decision. 8. Teaching Legal Reasoning to Law Students in Pakistan The law student must first be made aware of his technique of thinking; secondly he must be made to doubt its validity; and lastly, he must be made aware of the need to improve it. The law school classroom discourse allows the student to begin this questioning process by requiring him to pay attention to his own cognitive processes. However, when legal educators attempt to teach reasoning without first addressing its underlying concepts, the training may be unsuccessful, and the goal of teaching the skill of reasoning is frequently not met. Students may learn to apply some of the rules of reasoning while staying mostly unconscious of what they are doing since the concepts underpinning the process of legal reasoning are rarely defined. As a result, certain principles are never used, while others are only used sometimes. The student's reasoning skills may grow, but how and to what extent is essentially a matter of chance. If a student's reasoning skill is to increase beyond chance, the principles underpinning the art and science of reasoning must first be established, and then applied to the subject matter, in this instance law. The rule of purpose is the fundamental premise of sound thinking. There must be something to think about before one can think well; the more precisely defined the topic matter of the thinking process is, the clearer and more precise the thinking about that subject matter will be. Before an issue can be addressed, the thinker must first acknowledge that it exists and, more importantly, what type of problem it is. To put it another way, sound thinking is purposeful. The more precisely an issue is stated, the more manageable it becomes, the less likely one is to follow Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) erroneous paths to a solution, and the more exact one's thoughts about the problem will become. As a result, the issue must be defined in the most straightforward possible manner. This principle's use in legal education, notably in case method analysis, should be obvious. One of the first tasks a law student will be given is to recognize and articulate the legal matter for determination. Typically, the law professor will not proceed until the problem has been properly and correctly stated. If the student fails to do so in the first instance, he will be questioned until he is able to recognize his mistake and has rethought the case sufficiently to provide a clear presentation of the problem that the judge writing the judgment was asked to determine. The opinion cannot be understood until the subject is well specified; conversely, the more clearly stated the topic, the better the clarity and grasp of the case analysis. The declaration of the problem to be solved is, of course, the issue in a case; so, stating the issue is defining the problem. As a result, the law professor's attempt to instill an issue orientation to legal materials in his pupils is nothing more than an application of the rule of purpose. Legal reasoning is difficult to teach, yet it is frequently taught to law students dealing with substantive law difficulties. Legal education should attempt to teach students how to think like lawyers and how to develop legal reasoning in a systematic way. It is critical for students to face this uncertain process and grasp that, while legal reasoning may not appear to be incorrect in terms of the notion of the final proper answer to a legal problem, it is typically characterized by the potential to arrive at a number of interpretations. Legal reasoning is an important practical skill for solving legal problems, especially when a law student goes beyond the basic formalism he studied in law school. Expectations about a student’s ability to participate in legal reasoning should grow as he or she graduates from law school. Teachers who teach these courses would receive the resources, attendance, and time required to improve an LLB degree in this way. An important goal should be to teach students to learn on their own. A redesigned curriculum will reduce content development and introduce a competency development factor so that students have the tools for legal reasoning to explore key areas of law that may not be covered in a particular subject. 9. Conclusions It has been shown that legal education should be aimed at educating students to think like a lawyer and that the development of legal opinion should be actively invigorated. It is important for students to face this uncertain process and recognize that legal reasoning does not entail an easy misunderstanding of the correct ultimate response to a legal challenge, but rather indicates that legal reasoning and legal decision-making are common practice in general, for the possibility of access to various interpretations. As a result, legal reasoning, an element of discipline-specific Journal of Legal Studies Volume 30 Issue 44/2022 ISSN 2457-9017; Online ISSN 2392-7054. Web: publicatii.uvvg.ro/index.php/jls. Pages 13 – 26 Ali, M.I., (2022) skills, should be taught as part of the curriculum. In law faculties, a fundamental introduction to legal reasoning should be taught as a philosophical concept as well as a skills method procedure. Law students must learn to summarize, argue, synthesize, criticize, organize, and assess information. The requirement to develop analytical and critical thinking abilities is definitely a basic purpose of a law school, since it is commonly argued that law students must learn to think like lawyers. It is critical to provide law students with a strategy for conducting legal analyses. In addition, learning procedures need to be improved to help students acquire legal reasoning skills, and student-centered pedagogical approaches, such as problem- based learning and case-based learning, need to be used. Students are encouraged to be active as well as to participate and participate in class discussions. Therefore, legal reasoning can be promoted through small group discussions, under the supervision of teachers who encourage oral and written debate, argumentation and problem solving, and feedback to students. Second, students need to be encouraged to think about what they have learned. Based on prior school performance, law students are regarded as strong students with good study abilities, including meta- learning skills, and the development of meta-cognition skills should be included in legal education. Moreover, the fundamental need of students to develop legal opinion should be linked to the role of legal professionals in society and their culture of legal professionals. Legal practice is a highly specialized field in which qualified experts study, develop and replicate the legal order and practice in modern society. In this specialized professional culture, lawyers act and interconnect with their unique legal language and style of reasoning and argumentation, but they are connected to a society where there is a culture of lawyers. In this regard, it is stated that the purpose of legal education is to promote competition in the principles of legal culture, and not to provide comprehensive knowledge of the law at the superficial level. If lawyers are conversant with the fundamentals of legal culture and how to apply them, they will be able to learn and apply more discursive knowledge. Legal reasoning is inextricably linked to legal culture, which is a subset of the legal system consisting of concepts and practices that are part of the self-understanding of legal professionals. In legal education, it is important to teach students the legal considerations and help them to understand them more deeply. In this context, legal education plays a key role in the development of legal culture. As a result, legal reasoning should be taught as a discipline-specific competence in the LLB curriculum. Furthermore, teaching procedures should be improved to assist students' legal reasoning skills, which necessitates the use of student-centered pedagogical approaches such as problem-based learning and case-based learning. Students are encouraged to be active, as well as engage and participate in class discussions. 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Journal

Journal of Legal Studiesde Gruyter

Published: Dec 1, 2022

Keywords: Legal Education; Legal Reasoning; LLB Curriculum Reforms; Pakistan

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