Islamabad, 18th November, 2021; 61st meeting of the Standing Committee on Law and Justice was held today under the Chairmanship of Mr. Riaz Fatyana, MNA at 11:00 P.M. in Committee Room No. 7, (4th Floor), Parliament House, Islamabad.

The meeting started with recitation from the Holy Quran then, the Committee decided to proceed with the agenda. The Committee unanimously confirmed the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 6th and 7th October 2021 and deferred the agenda No. 2 till its next meeting.
The Committee considered the Bill “The Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (Section 5 and schedule), moved by Ms. Nafisa Shah, MNA. During detailed deliberations it was informed by the Mover that the Sindh Bar Council has categorically supported the Bill. Hence, she requested to pass the same. The Committee recommended that enhancement of one seat in the Sindh Bar Council against the District Khairpur may be approved. Representatives of the Pakistan Bar Council and Sindh Bar Council has not attended the meeting. Keeping in view the consensus of all the Members, the Committee recommended that the Bill as amended may be pass by the Assembly.  

The Committee considered the Bill “The Legal Practitioners and Bar Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (Section 5), moved by Mr. Sher Akbar Khan, MNA”. During detailed deliberations it was informed by the Mover that the KPK Bar Council is also supporting his Bill. The Committee observed that no written comments in support of the Bill has been received to the Committee, hence, the Committee deferred the same till its next meeting and for the comments of the concerned Bar Council to proceed further into the matter.

The Committee considered the Bill “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article 51 and 106) moved by Mr. Zahid Akram Durrani, MNA”. During detailed deliberations Election Commission of Pakistan opposed the Bill on the ground of as recently the Federal Government has announced for the new census hence, as per rule after new census delimitation will be the requirement of the time hence, the grievance of the Mover will be addressed after the delimitation. The Ministry of Law and Justice briefed the Committee that after the merger of the erstwhile FATA, the grievances have already been redressed under Article 51 and 106 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. After detail deliberations the Committee unanimously recommended that the Bill may not be passed by the Assembly.

The Committee considered the Bill “The Superior Court (Number of Judges) (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Amendment of Section 2 Act XXXIII of 199) moved by Mr. Qadir Khan Mandokhail, MNA”. After detailed discussion the Committee deferred the same till its next Committee meeting.

The Committee considered the agenda relating to “Discussion on tenure and election procedure of Bar Associations. During detailed deliberation the Committee observed that reasonable opportunities have been granted to representatives of lawyers but so far; no adequate response has been received from Bar Associations as well as Bar Councils regarding enhancement of tenure of Bar Association as well as with respect to procedure of elections. Hence, the Committee unanimously recommended that the tenure of Election of Bar Associations shall be enhanced from one year to two years, Elections of all Bar Associations except Supreme Court Bar Association shall be conducted in December after two years and new Cabinet shall take over the charge on 1st January after the election. Further the campaign of the election shall be restricted to maximum two months before the election date.

Discussion relating to the recruitment of Judges at High Courts, prescribing the procedure and prequalification for their appointment. The Committee deferred the same till its next meeting.

The Committee did not consider the Bill “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Article 239) moved by Ms. Kishwer Zehra, MNA” and deferred the same till its next Committee meeting at the request of the Mover.

The Committee considered the Bill “The Legal Aid & Justice Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020, (Section 2, 6 & 9A) moved by Uzma Riaz, MNA”. During deliberation the Ministry of Law and Justice informed the Committee that some amendments were agreed during the meeting of the Mover with Hon. Minister but the same has not been drafted. Hence, the Ministry requested to grant one opportunity to finalize the draft. The Committee deferred the same till its next meeting with recommendation that the Ministry of law and Justice shall finalize the proposal before the next meeting positively.
The Committee did not consider the Bill “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Insertion of Article 11-A) Ms. Mehnaz Akbar Aziz, MNA” and deferred the same at the request of Hon. Mover till its next meeting.

The Committee did not consider the Bill, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article 59), moved by Mr. Mohsin Dawar, MNA and deferred the same till its next meeting.

The Committee consider the Bill, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article-1, 51 and 106), moved by Mr. Mohsin Dawar, MNA”. After detailed discussion the Committee recommended that the Bill may not be passed by the Assembly.
The Committee did not considered the Bills “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article 156) moved by Naved Aamir Jeva, MNA”, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021(Article 27) moved by Ms. Nusrat Wahad, MNA” and “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article 59) moved by Jai Parkash MNA”. The Committee deferred all three Bills due to non-availability of the Movers.

The Committee constituted the Sub-Committee under rule 224(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007 with the following composition: -

COMPOSITION: -
Ch. Mehmood Bashir Virk, MNA Chairman
Ms. Shunila Ruth, MNA Member
Ms. Kishwer Zehra, MNA Member
Ms. Aliya Kamran, MNA Member

TERMS OF REFERENCE (TORS): -
Judicial Reforms with specific reference to procedure for induction of judges including enhancement of Number of Judges in superior judiciary; and
Report of the Sub-Committee shall be submitted within thirty days

Hon. Members/MNAs/Movers Mr. Lal Chand, Muhammad Farooq Azam Malik, MS. Kishwar Zehra, Mr. Junaid Akbar, Ms. Shunila Ruth, Ch. Mehmood Bashir Virk, Mr. Usman Ibraheem, Mr. Qadir Khan Mandokhail, Ms. Nafeesa Shah, Ms. Aliya Kamran, Mr. Sher Akbar Khan, Mr. Zahid Akram Durrani, Ms. Uzma Riaz and Mr. Naveed Aamir Jeva, besides the Secretary Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Human Rights, Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan along with their staff attended the meeting.