Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali on Monday said collective efforts were required to create awareness and educate the masses about the environment and its importance.
He expressed these views at the inaugural ceremony of a weeklong training course titled “Intellectual Property Rights Laws, Environmental Laws with Special Reference to Jurisdiction and Powers of Green Courts and other new laws” at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA). Participants include district and sessions judges, and additional district and sessions judges from all over country including Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Jamali said, “The academy has done a good job to realise the importance of the subject and incorporate it in the training course.” He said this subject began from the destruction of the ozone layer and ended in households. District judges should make sure that environmental laws are enforced, he added.
He said,” The mere labelling of environmental courts as ‘Environmental Tribunals’ or ‘Green Courts’ is not enough, the presiding officer’s role in saving the environment in this age of environmental decay is key.”
Expressing disappointment over the environmental laws and tribunals in the country, he said that laws enacted but environmental tribunals have only been ‘on the record’. This shows a sorry state of affairs. He said seminars and workshops on this issue are being held frequently, but people need to be educated and made aware of the gravity of the situation. Jamali also spoke about the vibrant economies of East Asia including China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where environmental courts have been working actively. He also referred to the South Asian Conference on Environmental Justice and the Bhurban Declaration, 2012, and said that more efforts were required. “Intellectual Property Rights Laws are not made to exploit poor people in developing countries and protect the interests of multinationals. Judges have to adopt a balanced and pragmatic approach to tackle issues arising out of it” he emphasised.