ISLAMABAD: An All-Party Conference of political parties and the lawyers declared that the present system of judges' appointment process was the main hurdle in the way of an independent and professional judiciary and the Judicial Commission of Pakistan had become a "judges' consortium".
The Pakistan Bar Council organised All Parties Conference, "Appointment of Judges in Superior Judiciary, Accountability and Civil Liberties" at a hotel here on Thursday.
The conference was attended by the leadership of the Pakistan Bar Council, the Supreme Court Bar Association, and the heads of political parties particularly Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif.
The participants discussed the process of appointment of judges, accountability system in the country, and the situation of civil liberties.
The meeting, after discussing the issues, passed a unanimous declaration.
The meeting expressed its dissatisfaction over the judges' appointment process and declared that the present system of judges' appointment is the main hurdle in the way of independent and professional judiciary, and the Judicial Commission of Pakistan unfortunately has a become judges' consortium.
The conference underscored the need for reviewing the systems of judges' appointment and accountability. Demanding abolishment of 19th Constitutional Amendment, the conference demanded setting up of a new forum with equal representation of parliamentarians, all stakeholders including the executive, and the bar councils.
The meeting felt the need for an independent, transparent, and impartial accountability system for good governance in the country.
They said the present accountability system had not only become ineffective, but also controversial, and was being used for political engineering.
The meeting demanded the framing of a new accountability law based on the principles of justice and transparency through consultation with political parties and other stakeholders.
Accountability of all the institutions and individuals should be held by one organization, and no one should be arrested before the filing of a reference.
They said the exemption of any institution was against the justice system; therefore, there should be one system for the accountability of all the government officials.
"The meeting felt that Pakistan is taken away from the path of constitutional and democratic system, while 1973 Constitution guarantees stable, peaceful and strong federation, and deviation from these principles would not be acceptable," they said, expressing concern over the deteriorating situation of citizens' liberty, and restriction on free press.
They said treason cases against journalists, restrictions on media houses, and "abduction of persons, who have different view from those of the government, were condemnable".
They demanded introduction of a legislation to protect journalists.
The participants expressed grave concern over what they said "increasing role of army in politics".
They said citizens' liberty and fundamental rights are being usurped "in the guise of 5th Generation War".
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.