‘A fascinating and troubling study of Pakistan's judicial system: its history misunderstood by its acolytes, its practice unaltered by countless reforms, its operations a tribulation for its constituents. Siddique analyzes the limits of scholarly reflection and well intentioned reform by placing them alongside the perceptions, strategies and experiences of those who use the system. A powerful and broad-ranging cautionary tale.’
David Kennedy - Harvard Law School
‘Pakistan’s Experience with Formal Law is a critical exploration of a system that is simultaneously familiar and alien. It departs decisively from all the official and approved pronouncements on legal reform, combining a rich experiential account of the frustrations of law in Pakistan (and throughout South Asia) with a provocative analysis of impoverished agendas of reform that fail to address the perplexities of the post-colonial legal situation.’
Marc Galanter - London School of Economics and Political Science
‘This book is a tour de force, bringing together the often forgotten history of British law in colonial India with the important if not at all encouraging story of massively foreign funded rule of law programs in present day Pakistan. The history is a crisp summary, followed by a fascinating first person participant observer report of how rule of law projects actually operate, and a pioneering empirical study of litigation on the ground in a provincial court. Siddique’s innovative multi-disciplinary approach could be a model for similar breakthroughs across the global south.’
Duncan Kennedy - Harvard Law School
'The major themes that Siddique develops and methods that he employs set the book apart from most legal scholarship. Political and other historical context informs the description of legal doctrine and its evolution during the period discussed. He deplores the inadequate attention given to Pakistan’s colonial past and its effects on post-colonial Pakistan’s legal system, discourse and reform projects. Discussion ranges from the theoretical framework to descriptions derived from empirical methods of the ordinary lives and experiences of those subject to that system. The author’s critical sense is at work throughout, from evaluation of historical and contemporary approaches to law reform to the use by outside funders of notions like efficiency to direct reform projects. Vaut le voyage.’
Henry J. Steiner - Emeritus, Harvard Law School
'Osama Siddique has produced a theoretically informed and historically grounded study of Pakistans engagement with formal law. This book makes a compelling argument that history matters and the perceptions of ordinary citizens are relevant in crafting a meaningful course towards legal reform. Historians, lawyers, social scientists and policy-makers will read it with profit.'
Sugata Bose - Harvard University
