The top national body of lawyers in Pakistan on Thursday backed the Parliament over its right to amend the Constitution and said that all institutions must respect their constitutional boundaries.
This was resolved during the 243rd meeting of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) in Islamabad. The council's meeting was held at its office inside the Supreme Court Building. PBC Chairman and Attorney-General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan chaired the meeting.
Apart from transacting other business on its agenda, the council elected Farooq Hamid Naek, unopposed, as its Vice-Chairman and Riazat Ali Sahar as Chairman of PBC's Executive Committee.
The council also unanimously passed the following resolutions:
In the first resolution, the PBC resolved that the Constitution outlines a trichotomy of powers.
"It is the prerogative of Parliament to legislate laws, judiciary to interpret laws and executive to implement Laws," PBC resolved.
It added that the Constitution's preamble provided that the state shall exercise its authority only through chosen representatives of the people. Parliamentarians, being the chosen representatives of the people, had the authority to make laws in the country's best interest, the council asserted.
"The Pakistan Bar Council further resolved that Parliament having powers to make laws being the supreme constitutional institution, and the Pakistan Bar Council, being cognizant of this irrefutable fact, stands behind the Parliament."
The council also resolved that all institutions should remain within the domains prescribed in the Constitution, otherwise, the country and people will suffer.
Cruel court fees
In its second resolution, the PBC opposed the recent increase in court fees in the Punjab.
Through the Punjab Finance Act 2024, PBC said the Punjab government had drastically increased the court fee from Re1 to Rsand from Rs2 to Rs500. Similarly, the amendments to the Stamp Act 1899, have raised the stamp duty from Rs100 to Rs300 and from Rs1,200 to Rs3,000.
The council said this substantial increase in fees was not only cruel and unjustified but also denied poor litigants access to justice, which is the fundamental right of the litigants/citizens of Pakistan as protected under the Constitution of Pakistan.
The PBC resolved that "Access to justice for all is a command of the Constitution and recognized as an inviolable right in terms of Article 9 of the Constitution that should not be made expensive."
The council pointed to how the superior courts of the country had time and again held that access to justice cannot be obstructed through the means of economic barriers.
"The act of the Punjab government to enhance the court fee through the Finance Act 2024, when the inflation is already so high which has impacted on the life of the citizens by taking the basic necessities away from them and this is certainly an attempt to undermine the fundamental right of citizen to access to justice which is condemnable."
The PBC demanded the Punjab government immediately withdraw the unjust and arbitrary amendments to the Court Fee Act and Stamp Duty Act.
Authority to issue statements
The Pakistan Bar Council also decided that only the vice chairmen and chairmen of the Executive Committees of the Bar Councils were competent to issue press releases or statements on behalf of the Bar Council, and the press release or statement issued with the secretary's signature and seal would be considered their official statement.