ISLAMABAD: Calling Justice AR Cornelius a symbol of integrity, speakers at a seminar held to commemorate him urged law practitioners to study, learn and follow the example of the former chief justice.
They were speaking at the seminar titled ‘Justice AR Cornelius: Services and Contributions to the Justice System of Pakistan’ which was co-organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad and the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).
The seminar was addressed by Federal Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Mohammad Farogh Naseem as the chief guest, whereas other important speakers included leader of opposition Raja Zafar ul Haq, Advocate Hamid Khan, Advocate Amanullah Kanrani, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Dr Qibla Ayaz, CII chairman DG-IPS Khalid Rahman, Dr Anis Ahmad, Riphah International University Vice-Chancellor (VC), CII Secretary Dr Ikram ul Haq and senior research associate at IPS Professor Dr Shahzad Iqbal Sham.
Raja Zafarul Haq said that he holds high regard for the people who rose to distinguished ranks on the back of their integrity and hard work, and Justice AR Cornelius was certainly one of them. He said that the former chief justice was an original thinker, who despite being a Catholic Christian, studied Islam in depth and advocated to follow its guidelines in the country’s constitution.
Speaking of the late chief justice’s legacy, Dr Qibla Ayaz said that AR Cornelius was a true patriot and had a deep personality which needed to explored and studied. He said that the former chief justice was a staunch supporter of shaping the countries systems and constitutions as per the teachings of Islam.
Dr Anis pointed that Justice Cornelius referred himself as a ‘constitutional Muslim’ who in fact was highly committed to the ideology of Pakistan and strived to follow the laws of Shariah that he found very much in line with the natural laws.
Talking about various shortcomings and inconsistencies that were present in the justice system of Pakistan, Advocate Hamid Khan was of the view that many of the prevailing judicial issues could be dealt by adopting the values practised by the chief justice, such as uprightness and giving respect to everyone without any discrimination, as well as by trying to reform the state’s judicial systems as per his insightful recommendations.
The advocate said that Justice Cornelius was always favoured the rights of people and many provisions and interpretations that we find in the laws today were made by Justice AR Cornelius himself.
DG-IPS Khalid Rahman finally concluded the session stressing on the importance of remembering the services and contributions of personalities like Justice AR Cornelius and following their examples with a view to bringing improvement to our individual as well societal lives.
