Attorney General of Pakistan

The Attorney General for Pakistan is appointed under Article 100 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Deputy Attorney General of Pakistan appointed under the Central Law Officers Ordinance, 1970. The Attorney General is the chief legal advisor of the government and serves at the pleasure of the President of Pakistan or till his/her resignation.

Controversially in Pakistan the Attorney General had the right to private practice. The reasons for this was that in Pakistan an Advocate is institutionally independent, and is not in the ordinary course permitted to be employed.

It is customary however that despite this permission to do so, AG’s do not appear on behalf of other clients, with the exception of briefs accepted before assumption of office which are at a stage of litigation where it would be impossible to instruct another Advocate. Sharifuddin Pirzada a former three time Attorney General and Malik Qayyum were conspicuous for their use of this right and accepting private briefs even after assuming office which was viewed by many[citation needed] as unethical and a conflict of interest.

It is pertinent to note that the last three Attorneys General before Mr. Malik Mohammad Qayyum did not make use of their right of private practice. The 18th amendment ( passed in April 2010) to the Constitution of Pakistan abolished the Attorney General’s right to private practice.

In January 2014, Attorney General Munir A. Malik, Senior Advocate Supreme Court, tendered his resignation from office citing personal reasons. He was succeeded by Salman Aslam Butt an advocate of Supreme Court.