The Islamabad Bar Association, the Bar Association of the Superior Court of Islamabad and the Bar Association of the Islamabad district, at a joint meeting on Sunday, announced a strike in the district courts and in the Superior Court of Islamabad tomorrow for protest what they call “unconstitutional measures” that undermine the judicial and legal profession.
The measure occurs a day after President Asif Ali Zardari approved the transfer of a judge of the Superior Court of Lahore (LHC), Judge Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, along with two others, to the IHC despite the opposition of five IHC judges. They warned in a letter to the best judges than their elevation as the president of the Supreme Court of IHC “would violate constitutional procedures and judicial norms.”
According to a resolution approved in a joint session of the legal fraternity of the capital today, a strike will be observed tomorrow to protest the “unconstitutional measure that affects the judiciary and the legal profession.”
“The legal fraternity of Islamabad guarantees its commitment to resist unjustified transfers and appointments from other provinces to IHC”, whose resolution, a copy available with Dawn.com saying.
The lawyers said they would seek “all legal and constitutional ways to challenge this decision and safeguard the judicial independence of Islamabad.”
The legal fraternity also demanded that the application of the Association of Lawyers, which seeks the annulment of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, be heard by the 16 judges of the Apex Court.
He condemned the decision of the Judicial Commission to designate additional judges for the SC in February and described the action as a “shameless attempt to manipulate the composition of the court, filling it with people favored by the ruling parties and the establishment.”
The resolution said that the movement blatantly ignored the fundamental principle of an independent judiciary, undermining public confidence in the legal system.
“The lawyers of the whole country firmly believe that quotes for the SC should not be made until a final decision is reached on the requests that defy the validity of the 26th amendment,” he said, asking for the postponement of the Commission’s meeting Judicial on February 10.
Speaking about the letter of the judges of IHC, the resolution supported the position of the superior judges, demanding that the president of the Supreme Court of the IHC be appointed of the highest judges present in the court to “guarantee equity and selections based on The merit. “
The legal community firmly opposed the controversial amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (PCA), qualifying it as a “tool to suppress freedom of expression and stop freedom of the press.”
“A law convention of all the Pakistan will be held under the Islamabad Bar Association tomorrow, on February 3 at 11 am in the Judicial Complex of the District, G-11/4, Islamabad, to formulate future strategies” said the resolution.
Traditionally, the senior judge of Puisne of a superior court is appointed as the president of the Supreme Court. Even so, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) last year introduced new rules to avoid the criterion of seniority in the light of the 26th amendment. The JCP proposed that the president of the Superior Court could be appointed between the panel of five senior judges.
