Senate passes bill to rectify Code of Criminal Procedure

ISLAMABAD – The Senate on Friday unanimously passed two bills including ‘The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2010’ and the Arbitration (International Investment Disputes) Act, 2010 Bill. The criminal procedure bill is aimed at providing relief to the accused languishing in jails for indefinite period due to delay in commencement of their trials due to various causes including the backlog of cases in the courts. Under the Bill titled “Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2010”, which has already been passed by the National Assembly, the accused of any offence not punishable with death, will be released on bail if the accused is detained for a continuous period of one year and his trial has not concluded. The relief would also be given to women accused languishing in jail for a period exceeding six months.
The legislation would also benefit the accused of offences punishable with death, if they are detained for a period of exceeding two years, and in case of woman a period of one year. An appellate court will also release on bail the convicts who have been sentenced for a period not exceeding three years and whose appeal has not been decided within six months of his conviction, convicts sentenced to imprisonment for a period between three and seven years and whose appeal has not been decided within one year of conviction and those convicted to imprisonment for life or exceeding seven years and whose appeal has not been decided within a period of one year of the conviction.
The relief will not be available to a previously convicted offender for an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment or to a person, who in the opinion of the trial or appellate court is a hardened, desperate or dangerous criminal or is accused of an act of terrorism punishable with death or life imprisonment. The House also passed the Arbitration (International Investment Disputes) Act, 2010. The government has already signed and ratified the international convention on the settlement of investment disputes between states and nationals of other states. The Bill is meant to implement and benefit from the convention and according to statement of objects and reasons would promote investment climate in the country. This bill too has already been passed by the National Assembly.