Asma Jahangir conference kicks off

LAHORE:Asma Jahangir Conference 2019 – Roadmap for Human Rights started here Friday.

AGHS Legal Aid Cell is the organiser of the conference. The first half of the conference was called “Moving Closer to 2030 – SDGs, Gender Equality and the Justice Gap” and took place in a hotel.

The panel was composed of eminent speakers from England, including Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, FRSA, Director of International Bar Associations Human Rights Institute, one of Britain most distinguished lawyers, HHJ Khatoon Sapnara, Circuit Judge in England and Wales and authorised to act as a High Court Judge in England and Wales, Shona Jolly QC, Chair of the Human Rights Committee and Head of Cloisters Human Rights Practice Group and Barrister Zimran Samuel, Human Rights Practitioner in Children and International Law.

There was a lecture and discussion on the place of women in the practice of law and the challenges for women in the criminal justice system.

In the second half of the pre-conference lecture series called “Crimes Against Women and the Criminal Justice System of Pakistan” the speakers were Justice Shehram Sarwar of the Lahore High Court, Former Justice and Prosecutor Syed Ehtisham Qadir Shah, Harris Azmat, Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan, Sara Malkani, Advocate and Legal Expert from Karachi. The Panel was moderated by Meenal Munshey from Beirut, Lebanon, with an expert degree in criminology.

Day one of the conference was largely attended by judges from Lahore and female lawyers from all over Pakistan. They included members of the Bars in Tharparkar, Chitral, Swat, Bajaur, Tanli, South Waziristan, Miran Shah, Peshawar, Swabi, Mardan, Mansehra, Dera Ismael Khan, Kohat, Jammu, Nowshera, Buner, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Muzaffargarh, Multan, Vehari, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Sukher, Khairpur, Meerut and Khuzdar.

The day ended after a thorough interaction of female lawyers and other justice sector personnel. They resolved to improve and elevate the current position of women in the justice system and their ability to access justice.