Law Ministry drafts bills for provision of timely justice under guidance of Ali Zafar

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Law and Justice under the guidance of Barrister Syed Ali Zafar drafted bills for the speedy deliverance of justice which are to be considered by the incoming Federal Cabinet.

Zafar while chairing a meeting on law reforms here on Friday stated that a serious problem facing the country is the matter of delayed justice where cases have been lingering on for decades.

He said that delays defeat justice. “It is especially true in the context of civil disputes pending adjudication before the civil courts and it may take years or even decades to get a civil case decided by a civil court,” he said.

He pointed out that the major reason for not being able to address this problem is the lack of law reforms. In that respect, it is a ground-breaking accomplishment of the caretaker government that during this short period, the Law Ministry has finalised the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

The bill aims at the expeditious disposal of civil cases without compromising the fundamental right of fair trial. “Reforms are proposed in the filing of a complaint, service of summons, filling of written statements, preliminary hearing, alternate dispute resolution, case management system, day to day trial, commission for the recording of evidence, the earliest decision of trial and appeals,” he said.

He also said that the proposals also limit the unnecessary discretion of civil courts and restrict granting of adjournments and subjecting the parties at fault with heavy penalties in the shape of costs. The object of these reforms is to revolutionise the trial system and bring it in line with the courts’ system operating in the modern world in other countries. It will initially be applicable only in Islamabad.

Another bill has also been finalised to protect names of public places and lay down the procedure for naming and renaming of federal public places.

The names of public places play a significant role in orientation, communication, vocabulary, and recognising spirituality and reflecting the community values of the time. It provides records of historical and cultural value and ensures the capacity to unambiguously identify and locate geographical entities and public places as an essential system for services, infrastructure and public administration.

However, presently no legal sanctity and protection are attached to the existing names of such public places including building and structures.

The bill will provide a framework to ensure a coordinated, consistent, fair and equitable protocol which is to be followed by the Naming Committee and the Federal Government when investigating and determining naming proposals.

Suits for defamation are inordinately delayed and despite the provision of section 14 of the Defamation Ordinance 2002 for the decision of such case in 90 days, it takes years for the courts to decide a case of defamation. Such delays make remedies insignificant and existing procedure do not create any deterrence against publication of false and frivolous defamatory statements.

A bill to amend the Defamation Ordinance 2002 has been prepared which aims to streamline the procedure in order to ensure early disposal of defamation suits, create deterrence against frivolous litigation and swift execution of decrees in defamation suits.

The minimum and maximum amount of general damages have also been proposed to be rationalised since these were last fixed in 2004. Provision of security for execution of the decree is made mandatory for the stay of execution by the appellate court.

There are many cases pending before the courts due to defective or illegal transfers of immovable properties.

In order to remedy the problem, it is essential that each party to the transaction of an immovable property valuing more than ten million rupees must engage an advocate. The advocates of the parties will scrutinise the contents of the transfer deed to ensure that it follows the law, endorse the transfer deed as having been executed by the transferor or transferee with free will and represent the transferor or transferee before the sub-registrar or registrar.

An amendment in the Registration Act 1908 has also been finalised for the consideration of the next elected government.

Oral contracts are invariably alleged to deprive the rightful owners of immovable properties and made a basis for frivolous protracted litigation. This misuse of law can easily be plugged by barring specific enforcement of the oral contracts for the transfer of an immovable property. This will also relieve the courts of this unnecessary burden of these frivolous cases. A Bill to amend the Specific Relief Act, 1877 has also been finalised for the consideration of the next government.

The bills on the subjects of the welfare of senior citizens, relief and rehabilitation of civilian victims of terrorism, maternity benefits of female workers, suppression of narcotics ‘ice’ have also been drafted and available for the incoming elected government for consideration.

Ali Zafar further added that lot of work for further law reforms is required for the provision of expeditious justice to the people of Pakistan, attracting foreign direct investment to create jobs and bringing good governance through prevention of abuse of power by public officials.

” The caretaker government did its best during this short period with a limited mandate. It will be a great challenge for the elected government to steer the reform process through effective laws for achieving the afore-stated purposes,” he concluded.