From Parliament House Islamabad
The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice, chaired by Senator Farooq H. Naek, met to consider agenda covering a briefing by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on various issues including salaries, pending investigations etc, proposed amendments to the Juvenile Justice System, and disparities in the salaries, allowances and benefits of federal and provincial law officers.
The committee’s agenda included a detailed briefing by the Chairman NAB on the bureau’s operations at various locations. However, the Chairman NAB did not appear before the committee. Chairman Committee Senator Farooq H. Naek informed members that a letter had been received from NAB regarding the matter.
Deputy Chairman NAB Sohail Nasir attended the meeting and requested that the briefing be postponed, stating that NAB intended to provide a comprehensive presentation and therefore sought additional time.
He also apologised to the committee, explaining that amendments had been made to the agenda and the bureau required more time to prepare. He further stated that the Chairman NAB did not attend because of the revised agenda and the incomplete briefing material.
During the discussion, Senator Kamran Murtaza reminded the committee that NAB had assured members in the previous meeting that the Chairman NAB would personally brief the committee. He said that if the Chairman NAB was unable to appear before the committee, members should be informed so that the committee could instead visit him. He stressed that a parliamentary committee is an extension of Parliament and must be treated with due seriousness.
Responding to NAB’s request, Chairman Committee Senator Farooq H. Naek directed the bureau to complete its preparations and send the briefing material by end of July as the agenda item would be taken up in the next meeting in the first week of August.
The committee then took up the Juvenile Justice System (Amendment) Bill presented by Senator Sarmad Ali.
Senator Sarmad Ali who participated in the meeting virtually informed the committee that under the proposed amendments, no person below the age of 18 years would be awarded the death penalty. He further stated that the bill also provides for specialised training of judges dealing with juvenile justice laws. He clarified that the proposed legislation currently applies only to Islamabad and that similar legislation would later be introduced for other provinces.
The Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, informed the committee that similar amendments already exist under Islamabad’s juvenile justice law. He added that following the enactment of the 2018 federal law, the provinces had also implemented the legislation with suitable amendments.
Senator Farooq H. Naek observed that the Criminal Procedure Code does not itself prescribe punishment, as punishment is always awarded under substantive criminal law. He further explained that juvenile justice legislation is a combination of criminal procedure and substantive criminal law.
Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro stated that while the federation can amend federal laws, legislative authority over separate provincial subjects rests with the provinces. He noted that provinces amend different legal provisions independently, while the federation’s legislative authority remains limited. He added that amendments can nevertheless be made to criminal procedure laws.
The Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik informed the committee that he chairs the Coordination Committee emphasising uniformity of law maintained that the remaining provinces were also working on implementing the Juvenile Justice Act.
Chairman Committee Senator Farooq H. Naek expressed displeasure over the failure of the Ministry of Law and Justice to submit its written position on the proposed bill. Addressing the Secretary Law, he remarked that instead of providing the required written comments on the proposed legislation, the ministry had entered into a debate without first submitting its formal position he stated
The committee decided to defer further discussion of the Juvenile Justice System (Amendment) Bill with the direction that the Secretary Law may brief the committee in it’s meeting as to whether the bill falls under the definition of criminal law or not and moreover a comparative analysis of juvenile justice laws of provinces may also be provided in next meeting. Further consideration was deferred.
The meeting was attended by Senators Kamran Murtaza, Zamir Hussain Ghumro, Abdul Qadir, and other senior officers of the ministry and related departments.
