“It is the state’s responsibility to establish peace and security in the country. Times have changed. We need to redefine our national security policy. It should include not only defence from external aggression but also security of citizens’ lives,” Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Friday.
He was addressing the inaugural session of a three-day seminar Justice for All and Impunity for None attended among others by lawyers’ delegations from Indian, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The seminar has been organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
Speakers at the inaugural session talked about People’s Security and the Rule of Law.
Justice Chaudhry cited the example of Soviet Union and said that no amount of defence spending could keep it united. The USSR, he said, was reported to have 20,000 nuclear warheads. He said sustainability of economic and social development of a country depended on democratic governance.
The CJP said that judiciary was the ultimate protector of the rights of the citizens but it was the legislature’s duty to repeal outdated laws and bring new laws to cope with the problems.
He said that the role of judiciary was not that of opposition to the executive and the legislative. “The judiciary has to work in collaboration and cooperation with the other two organs to sort out ways in which human rights and civil liberties can be best protected,” he added.
Justice Chaudhry expressed his concerns over the missing persons in Balochistan saying that the number of forced disappearances in Balochistan was still increasing.
He said that the Constitution had defined the role and powers of every organ of the state and they all had to work within their domains.
The CJP welcomed the foreign delegations participating in the conference.
President of the SCBA of India Pravin H Parekh and senior attorney of Sri Lanka JC Weliamuna also spoke at the occasion. They expressed their gratitude to Pakistani legal fraternity for inviting them to the conference.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ