Democratic values: Make history or become its victims, says CJP

Jillani addresses Supreme Court lawyers on roll signing ceremony.

LAHORE:

“Constitutional guarantees are not enough to maintain judicial independence,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani said on Saturday.

He was addressing the 32nd roll signing ceremony at the Lahore registry of the Supreme Court. “Our Constitution says good governance in the country should be based on the independence of judiciary... These textual guarantees are not enough,” he said.

He awarded licences to 82 advocates on the occasion. Other judges of the Supreme Court and senior lawyers also attended the ceremony.

Justice Jillani said the judiciary had maintained its independence through the people.

“It is the pressure from citizens that has ensured compliance of court orders,” he said.

He said judges, prosecutors and lawyers played an important role in ensuring peace and stability in the society. “Lawyers have historically led the fight against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” he said. The chief justice said the judiciary had played a powerful role in ensuring that each organ of the state acted within its constitutional limits. “Whenever a state organ acts outside its mandate, the judiciary has to intervene,” he said.

Justice Jillani also discussed features of democratic governance. He said democracy did not mean just the periodic elections or the right to vote or just the freedom of speech.

“Democracy is a way of life. Think of it this way; democracy is an office and in this office, we do not discriminate against race, creed, or ethnicity,” he said.

He urged people to remain faithful to the Constitution.

“Do not be silent spectators when you witness an assault on the core values enshrined in the Constitution,” he said.

“There is a continuous conflict between those who want to uphold those values and those who want to violate them in the name of their narrow and bigoted worldview,” he said. “We should stand with those who defend these values. We either make history or we are victims of it,” he added. Greeting the new advocates of the Supreme Court, the chief justice said it was a day of celebration and at the same time, it was a day of solemn realisation of their duty to the society. He said lawyers had a proud historical legacy.

“You must always remember your duty to the state and to the society,” he told lawyers. “Lawyers earn the respect of the courts when they assist us...and it gives a very poor impression when they demonstrate disorderly behaviour or do not show up for hearings,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2014.