Aligarh: The Law Society, Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in collaboration with MBC Management Consultants, Switzerland organised an International Virtual Conference on the topic ‘Civil Society and Contemporary Legal Issues’ in which experts delineated how civil society and law are interlinked to each other.
Inaugurating the international virtual conference, AMU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tariq Mansoor pointed out the importance the institutions like the judiciary, election commission and media in a civil society. Giving the example of India, Prof. Mansoor said that we are really blessed to have a vibrant democracy which gives us the right of freedom of speech and expression.
Prof. Tariq Mansoor also highlighted the problems which the courts are facing in the time of pandemic and how it is affecting civil society. He said there is dawn after every night and the world will overcome this pandemic soon. At last he congratulated Prof. Shakeel Samdani and the entire Law Society for organizing this international conference on a very important theme.
The President of the session, Dr. Mario Boris Curatolo, CEO, MBC Management Consultants, Switzerland highlighted the importance of law in management of society and the social issues prevalent in our society. He said that law is very important for civil society and advised the legal community to adopt the flexible changing nature of the society.
He also highlighted the increasing importance of technology in the civil society. Dr. Mario advised the participants to pay great emphasis on enhancing knowledge and to work in the direction of optimization of resources. In the end, he thanked organizers for giving him the chance to be a part of this conference.
Prof. Shakeel Samdani, Conference Director, Dean, Faculty of Law and the President, Law Society during his speech provided the details of the conference. He said that 1298 people from about 13 different countries have registered in this conference.
While delivering his speech Prof. Samdani discussed in detail about the relationship between the law and sociology. He said, “Law is created and put into practice through societal processes. Simultaneously law affects and affects social change. Law and Sociology has similar subject matters such as both evolve around social relationships, principles, social controls, commitments and desires coming from specific social status and connections between or among people and society.”
Prof. Samdani also discussed the concept of a stable society and law in Islamic legal system. He said that the Holy Quran devotes about 200 verses to admonish those who are guilty of injustice and oppression. He also gave various examples for maintaing the stability and order in society from the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
In the end, he advised the participants to spare some time from their daily routine for social work. This social work will help in building a much better civil society for everyone.
Keynote Speaker, Dr. Shad Ahmad Khan, Chair, Staff Professional Development, University of Buraimi, Oman addressed the importance of Social Fabric in Society and the responsibilities the people with a legal background have to maintain this. He said that civil society is created by shared values and a society without social fabric is null and void. He also discussed the impact of COVID- 19 on India.
He also discussed the role of lawyers in civil society and said that lawyers are having the most powerful tool of judicial activism which is the Public Interest Litigation. Dr. Shad also shared his experiences of Aligarh Muslim University to the participants.
Featured speaker, Dr. Ferdinand Epoc, University of Buraimi, Oman while addressing the participants highlighted 3 major issues faced in the contemporary world which included proliferation of hate speech, commercial frauds and incitement to violence. He explained how all these have affected the society and the people living in it. At last, he thanked Prof. Shakeel Samdani for providing him the platform to address the participants.
Featured speaker, Dr. Ermal Bino, International University of Struga, Republic of North Macedonia explained about is Social Capital, its components, its advantages and disadvantages and how it can be utilised for betterment of the community. He also explained the problems we face and emphasised on how social capital is related to the present COVID-19 situation. He also gave examples of various countries.
Prof. Wasim Ali, Dept of Law introduced the guests and discussed the importance of a stable civil society. He also discussed various recent judgements passed by the Supreme Court in order to create stability in the society.
The question answer session was moderated by Mr. Mohammad Nasir, Assistant Professor, Dept of Law, AMU.
Abdullah Samdani, Secretary, Law Society conducted the conference, while Habiba Sheikh, Member, Law Society gave a brief introduction of the guests.
Shoeb Ali, Fozia, Shelja Singh, Hunain Khalid, Lyba Fatima and Chandan Gupta were the rapporteurs of this international conference. This conference was made a great success with the tireless efforts of Dr. Tabassum Chaudhary, Kashif Sultan, Shubham Kumar, Pawan Varshney, Somya Goyal, Akash Ranjan Goswami, Amber Tanweer, Yash Agarwal, Ayesha Alavi, Talat Anjum, Tushar, Moiz, Tabish Kamran, Afif and Kaif.