Parliamentarians, legal experts to work together for justice

Islamabad

Legal experts and parliamentarians have agreed to work together on a set of recommendations to bring in procedural changes to reform country’s criminal justice system. It is responsibility of the state to ensure fair trail and due process for every citizen regardless of the nature of the crime he/she is accused of and there is a dire need to ensure that this right for those who belong to vulnerable segments of the society such as persons belonging to religious minorities, says a press release.

This agreement was reached at a seminar on the topic ‘Protecting the unprotected: The Right to Due Process and Procedural Safeguards’ jointly organised by the Insaf Network Pakistan (INP) and The Asia Foundation.

The seminar was attended by over 40 parliamentarians including members of Senate, national assembly, provincial assemblies of Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan and KPK. Justice Muhammad Ajmal, former chief justice of Peshawar High Court; Justice Kelash Nath Kohli, former judge of Balochistan High Court; Humaira Masihudddin, a senior lawyer and members of civil society also attended the seminar.

Advocate Humaira Masihudddin while presenting the findings of a gap analysis conducted by INP said that there are serious concerns on Pakistan’s criminal justice system in general, however, it has become fundamentally unfair for accused of vulnerable communities.

Quoting recommendations of the gap analysis done by a group of legal experts including former Law Minister Barrister Shahida Jamil, she said that procedural changes would be required including changes in Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) 1898, Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) 1886, Prison Act 1894, Representation of People Act 1976, Police Order 2002, PEMRA Ordinance 2002, Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and many other laws.

Justice Mian Mohammad Ajmal, Justice Kelash Nath Kohli, Dr. Ramesh Vankvani, Senator Usman Kakar, Dr. Shahida Rahmani and Dr. Shazia, Nusrat Sehar Abbasi, Tariq Masih Gill, Meraj Hamayun Khan, MPA of QaumiWatan Party, Amina Sardra and Dr. Seema Zia of PTI, Waqar Shah of MQM, Dr. Mahesh Malani of PPP, rights activists Dr. Jennefer, Zulfiqar Shah and Ms Shaufta Aziz of INP also spoke on the occasion.

In conclusion, the parliamentarians, law makers, legal experts and members of civil society agreed to work together to advocate for procedural changes and safeguards in laws on the basis of gap analysis conducted by INP.