Rule of law under attack: CJP

Iftikhar Chaudhry says SHC, BHC bar associations helped combat terrorism, missing persons.

Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday said the rule of seemed to be under attack from multiple directions.

“We are standing at a critical juncture in our history where the rule of law often seems under concerted attack from multiple directions. Those of us working in the judicial system… have a unique obligation – to ensure that our judicial system remains a strong and independent bulwark for our democratic system,” he said in his address at the inauguration ceremony of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) complex.

Praising the country’s various bar bodies, the CJ said initiatives by the SCBA and Balochistan High Court Bar Association (BHCBA) had given hope to the people of the province. Appreciating SCBA’s help in the Balochistan case, he added that the association had arranged several seminars over the past few months to highlight the province’s plight and suggest workable solutions.

CJ Chaudhry also stressed the role the country’s other bar bodies were playing to tackle national issues. In addition to appreciating the BHCBA for bringing forth the petition regarding law and order and missing persons in the province, he pointed out the Sindh High Court Bar Association’s seminar on ‘combating terrorism through the law’. He also praised similar initiatives by the Punjab High Court Bar Association to raise awareness on a wide variety of national issues.

“It is heartening to note that judiciary is developing as a strong institution… It is a good omen for the country,” he said.

The CJ maintained the SCBA had been the vanguard in upholding constitutional values since its inception. He reminded that the association was at the forefront of declaring the sacking of SC judges by Pervez Musharraf in 2007 an ‘assault on judiciary’. “SCBA started a country-wide campaign for the restoration of the apex court’s Judges. It finally ended with the attainment of its goal.”

CJ Chaudry said an independent judiciary guaranteed the protection of people’s rights and ‘the executive should under no circumstances interfere with the administration of justice’.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2012.