Prompt justice right of every individual: Jawwad Khawaja

Scholars, legal experts discuss the prospects and challenges of Islamising laws

ISLAMABAD: Demanding and receiving prompt justice is the right of every individual while it was the responsibility of the state to provide justice.

This was stated by former Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice (retired) Jawwad Khawaja while addressing a three-day national conference on “Islamization of Laws in Pakistan: An overview of the Role of Constitutional Institutions”, which kicked off at the Shariah Academy of the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) on Tuesday.

Justice Khawaja stressed upon making improvements in the current judicial system, noting that there was a need for making basic changes in the system.

On Islamising laws, he said that it was important to take procedural laws into consideration.

“It takes 25 years for a civil case to reach a verdict, this delay is unjustified,” he said. He highlighted the importance of the Urdu language and the need for its promotion.

IIUI Rector Dr Masoom Yasinzai urged upon educational institutions to teach material which was relevant to the needs of society and hoped that the conference would result in some recommendations which would prove useful for making Islamised laws.

He said that IIUI’s Paigham-e-Pakistan narrative has been accepted across the nation and abroad, proving that educational institutions are the weapon which can win future wars.

Earlier, Shariah Academy Director-General Dr Mushtaq Ahmed stated that as many as 52 research papers will be presented during the conference on the judiciary, parliament, the Council of Islamic Ideology and also on the role of the supreme and higher courts on Islamization of laws.

Moreover, a paper on the introduction of Shariah Academy will also be presented. He also presented an introduction of the academy on the occasion.

Scholars and experts discussed the idea of Islamization of laws and future constitutional prospects while participants aimed at evaluating the ways and mechanisms provided for the Islamization of laws in Pakistan and to identify the Islamized laws so far and to critically evaluate them.

The participants also scrutinised the impediments to the process of Islamization of laws and identified the future prospects for Islamised laws.

The three-day moot will be attended by renowned personalities hailing from legal fraternity including Justice Qazi Faez Issa of the Supreme Court and people from other walks of life such as senior media personnel, teachers, researchers, lawyers and scholars.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2019.