Federal judicial academy arranged a workshop in collaboration with British High Commission and NGO “Struggle for Change” for judicial officers at a local hotel. The objective of workshop was to create awareness about the protocol signed by Pakistan Chief Justice (CJ) and the Presidents’ Family Division High Court of England and Wales which ensures that a child removed from lawful custody of parent against the order of a court in Pakistan or UK is brought back to the custody of parents.
Lahore High Court CJ Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry said that judicial protocol between United Kingdom (UK) and Pakistan on child custody would help ease courts’ burden of cases and resolve such issues amicably. He pointed out that courts face a dilemma whenever a child is moved from one country to another as the courts jurisdiction changes as well. He said, in some cases, a child was abducted by one of the parent and the two parents end up in civil and criminal action against each other. He said Pakistani courts prioritize custody cases and in most cases high courts treat them as habeas corpus petitions but, at district courts, the matter usually rests with senior civil judges who provide a plenary forum for settlements of custody issues. The CJ told that according to National Judicial Policy, such cases must be decided in three to six months.
