The need of judicial education in Pakistan was recognized as early as in 1958. The First Law Reforms Commsion (1958—59) recommended an intensive practical training through attachment. The Second Law Reforms Commissions (1967-70) recommended the establishment of a Judicial Academy for civil judges and magistrates. The Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) was established in 1988. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (then called the North West Frontier Province), the pre-service training was in the form of attachment and that, too, for a short period of two weeks. At the FJA, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa civil judges got their first pre-service training in 1993.

Since then, all the newly appointed civil judges received their six week pre-service training at the FJA. Sub rule 4 of Rule 9 of the Judicial Service Rules, 2001, made training compulsory for probationer judges.

A 2003 notification prescribes two weeks training for District & Sessions Judges/Zila Qazis; three weeks each for Additional District & Sessions Judges/Izafi Zila Qazis and Senior Civil Judges/ A’ala A’laqa Qazis appointed on promotion; and four to eight weeks each for Additional District & Sessions Judges/Izafi Zila Qazis and Civil Judges cum Judicial Magistrates/ A’laqa Qazis appointed on initial recruitment (N.B. the Arabic nomenclature is used in Malakand division only). Soon a trend of short courses, seminars and workshops at the district level, developed. Read More