Chief Justice of Pakistan terms judiciary as integrating force

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that judiciary today is the greatest unified and integrating force of the country.

He said being fully conversant of its basic duty to protect the rights of citizens as well as institutions against constitutional excesses; it was performing functions purely within the constitutional domain.

He was addressing a Full Court Reference on retirement of Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court, on Thursday.

The Chief Justice said in any democratic setup judiciary stood at the higher pedestal as compared to the other two organs i.e. the executive and the legislature, being the defender of the constitutional supremacy and rule of law.

"All the State institutions are bound to give due respect to the constitutional norm of independence of judiciary as envisaged in the very preamble of the Constitution of Pakistan," he added.

The CJ said the role of superior court in all modern democracies was crucial for protecting human rights, countering terrorism, curbing violence and checking corruption and corrupt practices and good governance.

"For this reason the constitutional documents of all modern democratic States accord highest degree of respect to the judicial verdicts and the corresponding responsibility of enforcement and implementation of the same on the concerned authorities," he added.

He said worldwide the judgments of the superior courts were followed and implemented by the subordinate courts and state institutions for defending citizens' rights.

No doubt, interpretation of law was the work of Judiciary; however, the enforcement of law and implementation of legal decisions were the responsibilities of the executive, he added.

He said the role of judiciary could not be relegated to that of an opposition merely because it rendered decisions strictly in accordance with law.

He said the existence of an independent judicial system and due respect for judicial verdicts were indispensable for any State to promote dispensation of fair justice.

The CJ said Pakistan was passing through a critical phase of its history and it was the need of the hour that authorities should work hard to rescue the democratic setup from being distorted in the backdrop of the social evils.

He advised that they should devise workable mechanisms and adopt high ideals of democracy in order to bring peace and harmony in the country.

"I am hopeful that all the State institutions and civil society will join hands for achieving the common goal of transforming Pakistan to a true welfare State by following principles of rule of law, fairness, accountability, transparency and constitutional supremacy."

He stressed that bar and bench together could bring major reforms in the legal and judicial system through mutual understanding, liaison and cooperation and thus mitigate the common problems of backlog of cases, frivolous and protracted litigation, heavy costs and courts fees, non-appearance of lawyers and witnesses and the like.

Lauding services of Justice Jan, he said Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan
endeavored to serve the cause of independence of judiciary and rule of law throughout his legal and judicial career.

He was one of the judges who refused to take oath before the military dictator in 2007, he added.

He said Justice Jan possessed special aptitude in the area of judicial reform and moderation; and special interest in the subject of intellectual property for which he attended many conferences and symposia both within the country as well as abroad.

"It is often said that a judge speaks through his judgments and I must confess that the well-reasoned, rational and landmark judgments of Justice Jan in field of criminal and civil law will surely make good precedents to be followed by the judges as well as lawyers," he added.

While Justice Jan in his speech said that during their tenure, the judiciary also continued its travel for the rule of law and the great historic lawyer's movement finally saw the light of the day.

"The slogan of "Justice for all" is now giving courage to decide the matters of powerful, poor and vulnerable alike. The public confidence on judiciary is increasing. The protagonist of this movement was no other but Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan, whose untiring and selfless efforts for the independence of judiciary and rule of law have so much glorified the honour of this Institution that today we feel proud to be part of it," he added.

He said it would be unjust if he did not appreciate the efforts of the civil society and especially the media for persistently giving a new hope and awareness to the general public.

"Now people talk of the rule of law and independence of judiciary while sitting in their drawing rooms. The whole trend of social fabric has taken a new and healthy turn," he added.

Additional Attorney General Habibullah Shakir called for observance of restraint under the trichotomy of powers among the state institutions

Vice chairman Pakistan Bar Council Akhtar Hussain in his speech called for increasing the strength of judges in the High Courts by giving consideration to PBC resolutions for amending the rules and for making the process of appointment more transparent and free from criticism.

President Supreme Court Bar Association Yaseen Azad said that every citizen in the country wished to see judiciary independent because it was their last hope but side by side they were of the view that democracy must continue and every government must complete their period for which they were elected by the people.

"We want the parliament must be independent. Political issues must be solved by the concerning authority. We want good relationship between the institutions," he added.

He said that they were also worried about the legal crisis being faced by the people of Pakistan.

They also wished happy life for retiring Justice Jan and eulogized his
services. (APP)