Umer Gilani

Umer Gilani

  • Against ‘liberal interpretation’

    In the world of constitutional law, differences of interpretation make all the difference. Take, for instance, the issue of federal-provincial...

  • Beyond naval farms

    The science of the law is not advanced by coining entirely new concepts – because that, in the world of law, would be heresy.This doesn’t mean...

  • ‘Master’ and ‘servant’

    If you think I’m going to dwell in this piece upon the relationship between our executive and alleged ‘selectors’, you’re totally mistaken....

  • Grassroots democracy

    About two years ago, when Prime Minister Imran Khan was elected, in his first speech to the nation, he promised to foster a culture of grassroots...

  • Administrative federalism

    The 7th recital of the preamble of our constitution promises that Pakistan shall be a state where the “units will be autonomous”.Roughly...

  • Criminal limitation

    A few weeks back, I had shared my concern in an article in these pages that "most people involved in public life in Pakistan still live in the...

  • Laws for liberty

    Official statistics show that over 66 percent of Pakistan’s total prison population consists of under-trial prisoners. Our average conviction rate...

  • Laws for liberty

    What good is a liberal constitution if it cannot secure the most basic of all liberties: the liberty of person?Seventy-two years after the supposed...

  • Not the auditor’s job

    The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has of late adopted the view that every public institution in Pakistan must get its accounts audited by...

  • Unconstitutional ordinances

    On October 31, 2019, President Arif Alvi promulgated eight new ordinances. These ordinances include three for reforming the civil justice system,...

  • The high court’s woes

    Political commentators tend to think that 'political' cases – the likes of the Avenfield case, the Al-Azizia case and fake accounts case – are...

  • Deliberating a reference

    Two weeks back, unconfirmed news started circulating in the media that the president of Pakistan had filed references before the Supreme Judicial...

  • Citizens or refugees?

    One of the 20th century’s most widely-loved pieces of literature is a song from the 1960s titled ‘Blowing in the Wind’. Authored by Bob Dylan,...

  • Silent coup

    On Monday, April 30, 2019, a slim majority of the Punjab Assembly voted in favour of the Punjab Local Government Bill, 2019. The Punjab governor has...

  • Reengineering the civil service

    The room is packed with an eager audience of journalists. Advocate Khurshid Hassan Meer, newly-appointed minister for establishment of the PPP, is...

  • Judicial activism for judicial reform

    “A judiciary which … is tardy… and has no urge… and ability to decide the cases/disputes before it expeditiously… is a danger to the state...

  • Case in Point: Moving beyond Panamagate

    Case in Point: Moving beyond Panamagate

    In January, after the retirement of Chief Justice Jamali, a re-constituted Supreme Court bench began hearing the Panama case. It soon became clear...

  • The pace of justice

    The defining moment of Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali’s tenure was November 3, 2015, when he stood in the Senate of Pakistan –the...

  • Paying for democracy

    On November 23, 2016, the federal cabinet approved a proposal for giving members of parliament a pay raise. The total salary of parliamentarians...