Chief justice asks bars to restrain unruly lawyers

Full-court reference held in honour of Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD:

Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali has urged bar councils to take action against lawyers who misbehave with judges inside courtrooms.

The CJ’s remarks came at a full court reference held at the Supreme Court in honour of Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry upon his reaching superannuation age.



“A number of lawyers misbehave inside the courts of the lower judiciary, but unfortunately the bar councils do not take appropriate action over such incidents,” he said.

The chief justice said recurrence of such reprehensible acts was unacceptable, as this behaviour badly affected the decorum and dignity of the judiciary.

“Complaints of bad behaviour by members of the bar should be immediately addressed by the respective bars to discourage professional misconduct,” Jamali said. “Only in this way can we achieve the cherished goal of bringing improvements to the judicial system.”



The chief justice emphasised that institutions like the judiciary could not function properly unless the members performed strictly in accordance with the set rules under Article 209(8).



The article deals with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) – a body that regulates judges. Superior court judges are expected to be God-fearing individuals who also strictly adhere to the rules and regulations. [They must] be cautious, pious, righteous and devoted in their affairs.

CJ Jamali said a judge should also endeavour to maintain cordial relations with fellow judges and to strengthen the system of dispensing complete justice at all cost.

He admitted the SJC had received a number of complaints against certain judges that were being addressed at the appropriate level.

In today’s world, he added, a judge should not only have complete command on diverse domestic issues but also a deep understanding of global developments.



Recalling the lawyers’ movement of 2007, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Ali Zafar regretted that the “lofty and admirable aims” of the movement for restoration of judges had never been fulfilled.

“Instead of bringing relief for the people it has brought an element of chaos, where some judges ceased to be judges and some lawyers stopped being lawyers,” he said. “Unfortunately, this was also the time when the relationship between the judiciary and the bar reached its lowest ebb.”

He also highlighted the huge gaps between the Constitution and the effective implementation of human rights, including the right of equality and liberty, freedom of speech and above all the right to a comfortable life.

“Human rights in this country will not be protected, unless parliament, government, judiciary, bars and, above all, the public believe that to deny people their human rights is to challenge their humanity,” Zafar said.

He also criticised the current system of appointment of judges. He announced the SCBA had decided to take up the matter of constitutional amendments in the procedure, including ad hoc appointments and increasing the number of Supreme Court judges, with parliament.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2015.