ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights on Wednesday deferred until next meeting the Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill 2016 and the Civil Courts Amendment Bill 2016 as passed by National Assembly.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Javed Abbasi. During the discussion on Senator Azam Swati’s Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill 2016, which asks for a quota for women judges in the lower courts of the Islamabad Capital Territory, the law secretary said out of the total 76 judges in lower courts, 14 are women, 35 are men while 27 posts are vacant. He said this percentage is quite sufficient. The Law Ministry was of the opinion that merit should prevail and quota should not be applied. The same view was given by representatives of different bar councils.
Senator Saeed Ghani, however, endorsed the bill and said this quota at would help women judges to come in the mainstream.
Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldini said that there should be quota for the areas which have poor education facilities. He said, “If we give best possible provisions across Pakistan, we can ask for merit to prevail, but if we are not even giving reasonable provisions, quota should be allowed.”
Regarding the Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill 2016 passed by the National Assembly, the committee members agreed that the trials should start from the civil courts instead of high court. However, there was disagreement on the forums for appeal after the civil courts; the district court or directly the high court. The bill was also deferred till the next meeting.
The committee also heard the Pakistan Engineering Council chairman on implementation of building codes with special provisions for seismic protection, suggesting penal provisions and mechanism regarding violations. He told the committee that the council has prepared a detailed document which talks about standardizing authority for construction material, monitoring on architectural and structural design, implementation authorities at federal and provincial level, rating of implementation status and the role of CDA, PSQCA, NHA, PHA, PWD and other stakeholders. The document was endorsed by the committee, the ministry and all stakeholders. PEC will now draft a bill which will be sent through the Science and Technology Ministry to the Law Division for vetting. Later, the bill will seek cabinet’s approval and will subsequently be moved in either House by the ministry.
The matters relating to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) referred to the committee by the Senate chairman were also discussed upon in the meeting.
Statistics Secretary Tahir Pasha and Chief Statistician Asif Bajwa told the committee that all provinces are duly represented in the governing council of PBS. It was also said that the body is autonomous in its functioning and financial autonomy is not sought. The Law Division’s additional draftsman explaining the status of autonomous bodies also explained that the statutory bodies who are related to revenue are not financially autonomous. The committee members agreed that this matter of autonomy and provincial representation needs to be debated extensively. The matter will be taken up in the next meeting.
