Rule of law, supremacy of constitution lead to prosperity: Chief Justice

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry says those countries who fail to up hold the twin rules, fail to prosper.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has succeeded in establishing rule of law by ensuring implementation of the constitution, said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Monday.     

He was addressing an Indian lawyers’ delegation led by Dr Pravin H Parekh - President Supreme Court Bar Association of India.

"Our law enforcement agencies are striving hard to fix the problem and the courts are geared to handle cases swiftly and dispense justice in a transparent manner," he said.

The chief justice told the delegation that history has proven that societies that followed the twin rules - rule of law and supremacy of constitution -  have thrived and prospered.

"However, societies that fail to do so, fail to move forward,” he added.

Justice Chaudhry further spoke about the similarities between the judicial systems of India and Pakistan and said both have a common cultural, social and legal background and drew inspiration from the same source of jurisprudence.

Speaking about the role of legal community, the chief justice stated that lawyers make the most active and knowledgeable segment of a society as they play a leading role in moulding public opinion on important issue of public policy.

"Pakistan and India are among those two nations whose very existence was made possible primarily because of the visionary leadership of their founding fathers who were also distinguished jurists of their times," he added.

He observed that even today, the role of lawyers and jurists could not be underestimated in terms of providing a strong leadership in both the countries.

He regretted that unfortunately, both India and Pakistan had not been able to maintain normal neighbourly relations since their inception.

However, he said there was no issue in the world which could not be resolved through peaceful negotiation, and that the jurists could play their role in not only creating the environment for peaceful interaction between the two neighbours, but also ensuring that such interaction was translated into real time trust and harmony between the two countries.