ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Judicial Reforms Bill (Practice and Procedure) Bill and the Lawyers Welfare and Protection Bill were both approved by a majority vote in the National Assembly on Wednesday .
The Senate will now be asked to approve the judicial reforms bill.
The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023, with alterations, was previously approved by the National Assembly’s standing committee for law and justice.
The bill was presented to the house by Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar with the standing committee’s suggested amendments.
The bill seeks to modify the chief justice of Pakistan’s powers and authority.
According to the Law Minister, Article 184 was used without restriction. Iftikhar Chaudhry used the suo moto powers without restriction, while Saqib Nisar went beyond the limits.
Tarar stated, “In the past, there was no right to appeal in suo moto, which is against fundamental rights and Sharia.” In legal and constitutional cases, a bench will consist of at least five judges, the law minister stated. In suo moto cases, the lawyer could now be changed, something that was previously prohibited,” he added.
According to the federal law minister, “it was a persistent demand of lawyers for long,” and now that the Supreme Court judges have also raised the issue, “the time has ripe for the Parliament to play its role over the matter.”
The chief justice’s authority to take suo motu notice is being transferred to a committee of three senior judges, as part of the bill.
Besides, the bill likewise incorporates a condition in regards to one side to offer against the choice, which could be recorded in the span of 30 days and will then, at that point, be fixed for a meeting in about fourteen days’ time.
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