Global Courant 2023-04-19 23:36:12
Karachi, Pakistan
Pakistani President Arif Alvi on Wednesday refused to ratify for a second time the law, which aims to limit some of the key powers of the country’s highest judge.
Alvi sent the Supreme Court (Implementation and Procedure) Bill 2023 back to the Assembly for reconsideration, citing the ongoing litigation on the matter.
The bill was first approved by the Cabinet late last month and subsequently passed by both the National Assembly and the Senate, but the president refused to sign it into law, calling it “colorful law” “beyond the jurisdiction of Parliament”.
He sent it back for reconsideration on April 8, and a joint parliamentary session reconfirmed two days later, despite the opposition of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from the country’s main opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Chairman Alvi is a senior member of PTI.
The PTI and some lawyers’ groups have filed multiple petitions against the law to the Supreme Court, blocking enforcement until all cases have been settled.
According to the Pakistani Constitution, if the president twice refuses to sign a bill passed by the parliament, the law automatically becomes law 14 days after it is re-approved.
But in this case, the law will not be enforced until the Supreme Court completes the pending cases against the bill, according to legal experts.
What’s on the bill?
The most notable provision of the legislation is the removal of the presiding judge’s power to receive notice of suo motu, a legal term that refers to actions taken by courts on their own without the request of any of the parties involved.
Suo motu declarations by Pakistani chief justices have long been a source of contention between the judiciary and governments, with multiple bar association councils also opposing the disputed power.
The bill also deprives the attorney general of the power to set up the Supreme Court tribunal.
It will also allow three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister Syed Youssef Raza Gilani, and several other lawmakers disqualified by the Supreme Court in the suo motu case, to appeal the sentences within 30 days after the law goes into effect.
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