Law Books on a Budget: What to Buy, Borrow or Share During LL.B
Most new law students are handed a reading list in the first week and feel they must buy everything on it at once. A shop near the courts or the university may offer a stack of textbooks, bare acts, guides and "helping books", and the bill adds up quickly. For many families, books are the part of the cost of LL.B in Faisalabad that nobody planned for.
The short answer is that you do not need to own every book. Buy a small set of bare acts for the core statutes and one reliable textbook for each core subject, borrow the rest from the library, and share the expensive or rarely used titles with classmates. Add free official websites for statutes and judgments, and your book spending can usually stay modest across the whole program without hurting your studies.
Buy, borrow or share: a simple rule for every LL.B book
Before spending money on any book, ask one question: how often will I open this? The answer tells you which of the three routes to take.
Buy what you will use every week, or keep for years, such as the bare act for a core statute and your main textbook for that subject.
Borrow what you need for a few chapters, one assignment or a short period, such as a second textbook, a commentary or a law report volume.
Share what a group needs but nobody needs alone, such as an expensive reference book or an extra textbook you want to compare with.
If you are not sure which route fits a title, wait a week. Most books can be bought later; money spent on the wrong book rarely comes back.
What is worth buying during the PU LL.B
The University of the Punjab LL.B runs over eight semesters, and the subjects change every semester. What you buy should follow your official course outline, not a shopkeeper's list or a list passed around on WhatsApp.
A bare act set for core statutes
A bare act is the plain text of a law, without commentary. Almost every law student should own the core ones, because the statute itself is the authority, and you will keep using the same texts in practice later.
Depending on your course outline, core statutes usually include laws such as the Constitution of Pakistan, the Contract Act, the Pakistan Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Code of Civil Procedure and the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order. Buy the bare act for a statute when you start studying it, not years in advance. Pocket or student editions are usually enough; you do not need a heavy annotated version in the first year.
One reliable textbook per core subject
For each core subject, choose one textbook and read it properly. Two half-read textbooks are worth less than one that you understand from cover to cover. Ask your subject teacher which textbook they recommend for the current outline, and check whether it covers the syllabus topics in order.
A good textbook explains the law in clear language, refers to the actual sections and leading cases, and has a recent edition.
Keeping your bare acts current after amendments
Pakistani statutes are amended from time to time, and an old bare act can quietly mislead you. A good habit is to check the "amended up to" or "corrected up to" date printed at the front of every bare act you buy.
When your teacher mentions an amendment in class, note the section and the amending law in pencil next to the old text, or keep a small amendment page at the back of the book. For major changes, check the current text on an official website before you rely on it in an assignment. Buying a fresh edition every year is rarely necessary; keeping a careful record of changes usually is.
Buying second-hand books from seniors
Seniors are often the cheapest and most useful source of books. They have finished the subject, know which titles were actually useful, and may sell at a fraction of the new price.
Before you pay, check a few things:
Edition year. Compare it with the edition your teacher recommends. An older edition may still work for theory but can be wrong on amended sections.
Amendment date of bare acts. A senior's bare act may be several amendments behind. Treat it as a reading copy and update it before relying on it.
Course match. Make sure the subject outline has not changed since the senior studied it.
Condition. Look for missing pages, loose binding and heavy highlighting that makes the text hard to read.
A second-hand textbook plus a quick check of recent amendments is often the best value you can find.
What to borrow from the college library
A law library is where expensive, bulky and occasional-use books belong: law reports, commentaries on major codes, older editions for comparison and second textbooks. You need these for assignments and research, but rarely every day, so borrowing is usually the smarter choice.
Do not assume the borrowing rules; ask. Before you plan your semester around the college library, ask the library staff or the admissions office questions like these:
"Can first-semester students borrow books, and how many at a time?"
"For how long can a book be borrowed, and is there a fine for late return?"
"Which books, such as law reports, are for reference inside the library only?"
"Can I reserve a textbook that is already issued to someone else?"
"Is photocopying of short extracts allowed, and where can it be done?"
If you cannot get to the library desk, you can send these questions through the contact page. Once you know the rules, you can decide which titles you genuinely need to buy.
Sharing books with classmates without losing them
Sharing works best with a small, reliable group of three or four classmates who live close to each other or attend the same classes. Keep it simple and written down.
Write your name inside every book you own.
Keep a short list in your group chat of who has which book and since when.
Agree a return day, especially before tests, when everyone needs the same book.
Split costs fairly if the group buys a shared reference book together, and agree in advance who keeps it at the end.
Photocopying and copyright
Photocopying is common around law colleges, but there is a line. Pakistan's Copyright Ordinance, 1962 allows limited "fair dealing" for private study and research. Copying a short extract for your own study is very different from photocopying an entire textbook and selling or distributing copies.
If you are unsure whether a copy is acceptable, ask a teacher or the librarian.
Free official sources for statutes and judgments
Not every legal text has to come from a shop. Several official websites publish laws and judgments free of charge:
Pakistan Code, run by the Ministry of Law and Justice, for federal laws.
The Punjab Code (Punjab Laws website), set up by the Punjab government, for provincial laws of Punjab.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan website, which has a judgment search.
The Lahore High Court website, which publishes its judgments online.
These do not replace your bare act set, since you need a copy to mark up in class, but they help you check whether a printed copy is current and find a judgment without buying a law report volume. For how to use them properly and check that a text is authentic, see our guide on finding authentic Pakistani statutes and judgments.
Keyword guides and "helping books": useful or risky?
Keyword guides and question-and-answer "helping books" are cheap, widely sold and look like a shortcut. They can help with quick revision, but they carry real risks:
They go out of date. Many are reprinted for years without being corrected for amendments.
They contain errors. Section numbers, case names and definitions are sometimes wrong, and nobody is named as responsible.
They oversimplify. Short notes hide the reasoning that teachers want you to understand.
They may not match your syllabus. A guide written for an older course or another university can miss topics entirely.
If you use a helping book at all, use it after you have read the textbook and the bare act, and check anything important against the actual section. Never treat it as your main source.
How to estimate your book budget without guessing prices
Book prices change with editions, paper costs and the shop you visit, so any fixed figure in an article would quickly be wrong. Instead, estimate your own budget with a simple method:
Get the course outline for the coming semester and list the subjects.
For each subject, write down the one textbook and the bare acts your teacher recommends.
Check the price of each title at two or three shops, and ask seniors what they paid recently.
Mark which titles you can get second-hand, borrow from the library or share with your group.
Add up only the titles left to buy, then add a small margin for a replacement bare act or a new edition.
Repeat this each semester. Parents find a short, itemized list much easier to plan around than one large, uncertain number.
A semester-by-semester buying plan
You do not need to buy books for the whole degree at once. A plan spread across semesters keeps spending small and avoids waste.
Before the semester starts. Do not buy anything yet. Collect the course outline and ask seniors which books they found useful.
First week of classes. Listen to each teacher's recommended reading. Buy the bare acts for statutes you will study this semester.
First month. Check what the library holds, then buy one textbook per core subject, second-hand if possible.
Middle of the semester. Borrow or share anything extra you need for assignments. Avoid last-minute guide purchases before tests.
End of the semester. Keep the bare acts for core statutes, since later subjects and practice will need them. Sell or pass on textbooks you will not use again.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to buy every book on my LL.B reading list?
No. A reading list usually includes more titles than any one student needs to own. Buy the bare acts for the statutes you are studying and one reliable textbook per core subject. Borrow commentaries and law reports from the library, share expensive extra titles with classmates, and use free official websites to check the current text of a law.
Is it safe to use a senior's old bare act?
It is fine as a reading copy, but check the "amended up to" date printed at the front first. Laws are amended from time to time, so an older copy may show a section that has changed. Note any amendments next to the old text and check major changes on an official website before relying on that copy in an assignment.
Are keyword guides and helping books enough to pass LL.B exams?
They should not be your main source. Many guides are out of date, contain errors in sections or case names, or do not match the current syllabus. If you use one, treat it as a quick revision aid after reading your textbook and the bare act, and check anything important against the actual section of the law.
The best way to keep book costs under control is to decide before you spend: buy what you use every week, borrow what you need occasionally, and share the rest. Ask your teachers for one recommended textbook per subject, ask the library about its borrowing rules, and make a short itemized list at the start of each semester. That small habit will save money every year of your LL.B.
About this guide: In October 2026, the names and roles of free official sources were checked against public descriptions of Pakistan Code (Ministry of Law and Justice), the Punjab government's Punjab Code laws portal, and the judgment pages of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Lahore High Court, and the fair dealing exception was checked against section 57 of the Copyright Ordinance, 1962. Book prices, current editions and Pasban Law College library borrowing rules were not confirmed and should be checked with shops, teachers and the library directly.
