Introduction

With the Creation of Chief Court of the Punjab, the Judges Library came into existence in the year 1866. The Judges Library started its function in the Hon’ble Chief Justice Block adjacent (now the new Hon’ble Judges common room) to the Hon’ble Chief Justice Court. Afterwards in the year, 1971, with the construction of new South East Wing (now A.S. Salam Block), the Judges Library was shifted in the basement of said wing and the new south east wing of the Judges Library consists of Judges Committee Room and lounge which was also being used for oath taking ceremonies and for many other high profile meetings till 2002. The foundation of the said historical building was laid down by the then President Muhammad Ayub Khan in 1967.

Initially, one thousand books were purchased to kick start the library. The library’s stockpile increased overtime. In 1919, Chief Court of the Punjab was elevated to the Lahore High Court at Judicature. Meanwhile, up to 1947, the library’s collection reached to a figure of 30,000. In next 14 years i.e. from 1955 to 1969 the library collection was doubled due to massive purchase of law journals.

With the establishment of Benches at Bahawalpur, Multan and Rawalpindi in 1981, libraries were also established at allied Benches and huge numbers of books were procured through special grants to facilitate the Hon’ble Courts and legal fertility. The Judges libraries are being managed by team of professional and skilled staff. With the significant increase in the strength of Hon’ble Judges, therefore, the Judges library had to increase the budgetary demands to purchase local publications as well foreign law books to cater to the dynamic academic need of the Hon’ble Judges. As the prime objective of the library is to render professional research services to fulfill the immediate reference and research needs of Hon’ble Courts, by providing the optimum balance of current technology, legal tools and a continuous untiring effort is being made through out the last decades to acquire the original source of Federal and Provincial Law inter alia statutes, judgments, debates and commentaries on every aspect & field of legal jurisprudence. This untiring effort has increased the library collection to 163,316 bound volumes of legal and general books of local as well as foreign provenance.

This library is the repository of all the law reports and law digest published in Pakistan as well as foreign publications and thus PLD, SCMR, PLC, PTD, MLD, PLJ, NLR, CLC, CLD, PSC, PTCL, YLR, PTCL, KLR, AIR, SCC, ITR, CC, CRILJ, All.ER, and US. Supreme Court Reports are available from the date of publication till date. The holistic collection of British India Gazette, Gazette of Pakistan and Province of Punjab is yet another plume in the cap of this library. It also maintains all Court Room Libraries as Ready Reference during Courts proceedings. With the dawn of information technology, a global trend of atomization is revolutionizing almost every field of life. Responding to the digital era, while maintaining a steady Face of development, the library has been equipped with Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and a step further in automation of library using KOHA Integrated Library System (ILS) has been deployed for efficient library functions. The Hon’ble Judges, their personal staff and members of establishment can browse online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) through koha.lhc.gop.pk. Besides, the library has to access to e-resources of legal databases i.e. www.pakistanlawsite.com, www.keylawreports.com, EastLaw.pk, Law Finder India (CD database). The library is in liaison with other libraries of the country through Inter Library Loan (ILL) to cater the need of Hon’ble Courts in case the desired material is not available in the library. The library remains open from 08.30 am to 09.00 pm on all working days of the Court.

The Judges library is divided into six sections for smooth work & providing speedy service as like:-

• Acquisition Section
• Serial and Newspaper Management Section
• Circulation Desk
• General Section (Miscellaneous)
• Amendment Section
• Binding Section

Vision

Lahore High Court Library proactively supports Hon’ble Judges needs in a dynamic way and act as the curator and cultivator of a superior collection of legal resources. This Library is a gateway to legal information and a navigator facilitating access to the legal system that provide vide access to legal knowledge, putting national and international sources of law into the hands of those seeking legal information. Lahore High Court library will be accessible, fair, effective, responsive, and accountable to its users.

Mission

The primary mission of the High Court Library is to assist the Hon’ble Judges in fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities by providing them with the best support in the most proficient, principled and economic manner.