Towards an inclusive Pakistan on April 18, 2018Pakistan ratified the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2011. We became the 101st country to have done so. Pursuant to the Convention, Pakistan had to take a number of steps for the differently-abled. We had to develop a code of implementation by enacting new laws or revisiting our existing legal framework, […]
The last temptation on April 10, 2018The Supreme Court has lately employed its original jurisdiction unsparingly, on the sole pretext, it seems, that vacuum created by inaction or omission of the executive must be filled by the judiciary. This vacuum theory runs contrary to the Constitutional principle of the separation of powers, that limits the judicial authority, notwithstanding the perceived vacuum […]
Smear beneath the surface on April 2, 2018Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) in its General Body Meeting held on 27.03.2018 took stalk of the recent developments in the top court. It was convened on a two-pronged agenda: first, Denial of Full Court reference to Justice Dost Muhammad Khan on the occasion of his retirement. Second, proceedings against Justice Qazi Faez Isa […]
Mashal: an unfinished effigy on March 13, 2018The Abbottabad Bench of the Peshawar High Court took up the appeal in Mashal’s murder case on 27 February 2018. Surprisingly, it suspended the operation of the trial court’s judgment dated 7 February 2018 to the extent of 13 appellants before the court and released them on bail. All thirteen were convicted by the trial […]
In search for a representative democracy on March 6, 2018Political systems are created to be a means to an end, and hence, they can be re-examined. The means of representing people can always be improved, notwithstanding the court decrees declaring certain features of that system as salient or inalterable. This piece is certainly not an attempt to extol transcendental institutionalism and completely discount non-institutional […]
Due process on February 21, 2018Article 10-A was inserted in our Constitution by the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010. The amendment codified the principles of due process and placed it on a constitutional footing. It reads: ‘For the determination of his civil rights and obligations or any criminal charge against him a person shall be entitled to a fair trial […]
Brutus is an honourable man on February 13, 2018The august Supreme Court of Pakistan convicted Nehal Hashmi for an offence under section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003 (Ordinance No. V of 2003) read with Article 204(2) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973; and sentenced him ‘to simple imprisonment for one month and a fine of Rs […]
Expanding universe of agenda setting on February 2, 2018The recent increase in judicial activism has made the Supreme Court a key player in agenda setting. The apex court has been taking up high-profile cases. In 2017 alone, the Chief Justice of Pakistan took 34 suo motu notices under Article 184 (3) of the constitution. These notices pertained to, inter alia, torture and harassment […]
No more presidential pardons on January 24, 2018Article 45 of the Constitution of Pakistan bestows upon our President the “power to grant pardon, reprieve and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority”. This naturally begs the question as to why such stipulation is needed in the first place. And the blunt answer […]
The illusion of free speech on January 15, 2018Article 19 of the constitution guarantees freedom of speech, expression and press. It also mandates that these rights are not absolute and are subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law. In addition, this article envisages that the object of such restrictions must have direct nexus with compelling governmental interests. They are the glory of Islam, […]