First National Judicial Commission meeting today

The meeting will also discuss the draft of the Judicial Commission Rules of 2010.

ISLAMABAD: The inaugural meeting of the National Judicial Commission of Pakistan, with Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as its head, will be held on Saturday on the premises of the apex court.

The meeting is also likely to discuss the draft of the Judicial Commission Rules of 2010.

The commission comprises Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Chaudrhy Ijaz Ahmed, Law Minister Babar Awan, Justice (retd) Attorney-General Maulvi Anwarul Haq, and Pakistan Bar Council nominee Dr Khalid Ranjha. The Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court, Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan, and Justice Syed Afzal Haider would also attend the meeting.

Members of provincial judicial commissions will also attend the meeting. Their composition is as follows:

Punjab’s judicial commission is headed by Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif. Other members are Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan and Punjab Bar Council’s nominee Rai Bashir Ahmad.

Sindh High Court Chief Jusstice Sarmad Jalal Osmany is heading the judicial commission of Sindh and other members include Justice Mushir Alam, Provincial Law Minister Muhammad Ayaz Soomro and Yasin Khan E Babar.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s commission is being led by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan. Other members of the provincial commission are: Justice Shah Jehan Khan, Provincial Law Minister Barrister Arshad Abdullah and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council nominee Fazal-i-Haq Abbasi.

Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa will lead the commission from Quetta, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Provincial Law Minister Shama Parveen Magsi, and Balochistan Bar Council nominee Muhammad Kamran Mulakhail.

After this meeting, the Supreme Court chief justice will also chair a meeting of the National Judicial Policymaking Committee.

The focus of the meeting would be to review the status of implementation of the National Judicial Policy and follow-up of the decisions made in its previous meeting.

The meeting will be attended by Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Dr Faqir Hussain, registrar Supreme Court and secretary to the committee.

During the meeting, the high courts will present the progress of the high courts and district judiciary, besides discussing the issue of expeditious disposal of cases by special courts and administrative tribunals. The issue of their independence and separation from the control of the executive will also come up for consideration.

Besides reviewing the progress of the project of construction of a model jail for Islamabad, the committee will also consider various issues, including proposals for giving priority to cases of senior citizens, jail reforms and formulation of policy for appointment of judicial officers in the district judiciary of Islamabad.

The meeting of the committee will be preceded by a meeting of the governing body of the Access to Justice Development Fund to approve project funding and approval of the fund’s accounts for 2009-10 and other matters.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2010.