Superior judiciary: Panel begins consultation on judges’ appointment
Parliamentary Committee seeks advice from lawyers and former judges.
Parliamentary Committee seeks advice from lawyers and former judges..
ISLAMABAD:
Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointment has started consultation with the representatives of lawyers and retired judges for making the appointment procedure for superior court judges ‘transparent and effective’.
Sources said the committee has decided to bring changes in judges’ appointment process and has asked for assistance of bar representatives and retired judges.
In this connection, members of the committee on January 17 convened a special meeting with Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Kamran Murtaza. The meeting, held under the chair of former law minister Farooq H Naek, was also attended by Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Vice Chairman Qulbi Hassan.
Sources told The Express Tribune that parliamentary panel had also decided to invite retired chief justices and judges on February 4 for their recommendations.
Giving details about the parliamentary committee’s meeting with lawyers’ representatives, the SCBA President said he had expressed his severe reservations over the formation of the parliamentary committee, which had no representative from Balochistan,
“Two members of provincial assemblies should also be part of parliamentary committee on judges’ appointment,” he said.
Commenting on the development, the Hassan said he had expressed legal fraternity’s concerns regarding the final say of chief justice of Pakistan in the appointment process.
“I have recommended that lawyers’ representatives in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) should be permitted to initiate names for the appointment of judges,” he added.
Hassan said lawyers were demanding that discretionary power of the chief justice in the appointment of judges should be taken back as only the CJ could initiate names for the judges’ appointment in the present system.
After the reinstatement of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, around 120 judges have been appointed in the superior courts since March 2009 but superior bars have always alleged that most of these appointments have been made on preferential basis.
Hassan said the committee had requested the superior bars to assist it further in the appointment process in its next meeting.
Hassan, raising objections over the SC’s judgment in Muneer Bhatti case, contended that the committee was becoming ineffective as compared to the JCP, adding that the latter remained dominant in the process of appointments. “If the committee rejects the JCP’s proposed names, the high courts can set aside as it has been done in the past,” he added.
Meanwhile, one member of the Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointment while talking to The Express Tribune agreed that both lawyers and parliamentarians were dissatisfied over the process of judges’ appointments, which had been introduced through the 18th and 19th Constitutional Amendments in 2010.
He said that in August 2013, the committee had formed a sub-committee of three parliamentarians to make the committee and JCP more effective in appointment of superior courts’ judges.
The PBC had already submitted the draft of proposed amendments to rules 2, 3, 6 and 8 of the commission one year ago but justice (retd) Chaudhry being chairman of the JCP had not taken action in this regard.
Earlier, there was a severe deadlock between the superior judiciary and the superior bars regarding the appointment of judges. Therefore, the PBC representative, attorney general of Pakistan and the law minister had not attended the commission’s meetings.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2014.
Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointment has started consultation with the representatives of lawyers and retired judges for making the appointment procedure for superior court judges ‘transparent and effective’.
Sources said the committee has decided to bring changes in judges’ appointment process and has asked for assistance of bar representatives and retired judges.
In this connection, members of the committee on January 17 convened a special meeting with Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Kamran Murtaza. The meeting, held under the chair of former law minister Farooq H Naek, was also attended by Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Vice Chairman Qulbi Hassan.
Sources told The Express Tribune that parliamentary panel had also decided to invite retired chief justices and judges on February 4 for their recommendations.
Giving details about the parliamentary committee’s meeting with lawyers’ representatives, the SCBA President said he had expressed his severe reservations over the formation of the parliamentary committee, which had no representative from Balochistan,
“Two members of provincial assemblies should also be part of parliamentary committee on judges’ appointment,” he said.
Commenting on the development, the Hassan said he had expressed legal fraternity’s concerns regarding the final say of chief justice of Pakistan in the appointment process.
“I have recommended that lawyers’ representatives in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) should be permitted to initiate names for the appointment of judges,” he added.
Hassan said lawyers were demanding that discretionary power of the chief justice in the appointment of judges should be taken back as only the CJ could initiate names for the judges’ appointment in the present system.
After the reinstatement of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, around 120 judges have been appointed in the superior courts since March 2009 but superior bars have always alleged that most of these appointments have been made on preferential basis.
Hassan said the committee had requested the superior bars to assist it further in the appointment process in its next meeting.
Hassan, raising objections over the SC’s judgment in Muneer Bhatti case, contended that the committee was becoming ineffective as compared to the JCP, adding that the latter remained dominant in the process of appointments. “If the committee rejects the JCP’s proposed names, the high courts can set aside as it has been done in the past,” he added.
Meanwhile, one member of the Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointment while talking to The Express Tribune agreed that both lawyers and parliamentarians were dissatisfied over the process of judges’ appointments, which had been introduced through the 18th and 19th Constitutional Amendments in 2010.
He said that in August 2013, the committee had formed a sub-committee of three parliamentarians to make the committee and JCP more effective in appointment of superior courts’ judges.
The PBC had already submitted the draft of proposed amendments to rules 2, 3, 6 and 8 of the commission one year ago but justice (retd) Chaudhry being chairman of the JCP had not taken action in this regard.
Earlier, there was a severe deadlock between the superior judiciary and the superior bars regarding the appointment of judges. Therefore, the PBC representative, attorney general of Pakistan and the law minister had not attended the commission’s meetings.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2014.