ISLAMABAD: Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi has been re-elected as Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice.
His name was proposed by Senator Muhammad Asad Ali Khan Junejo. The Chairman thanked the members of the committee for reposing confidence in his abilities and wowed to seek guidance from the members of the Committee to make it more vibrant and active. “In the previous tenure, the committee made all out efforts to fulfil its legal and constitutional role and presented 62 reports relating to various issues and legislative matters” , Javed Abbasi said.
Members of the Committee assured their cooperation to make the committee more efficient and play assertive role. Besides Leader of the House in the senate Raja Muhammad Zafar ul Haq and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Sherry Rehman, the meeting was also attended by senators Mian Raza Rabbani, Farooq H. Naek, Mussadiq Malik, Muhammad Asad Ali Khan Junejo, Sana Jamali and senior officers of the Senate.
Senator Raza Rabbani said that the performance of the committee during its past tenure was remarkalble and expressed the hope that the committee under the Chairmanship of Senator Javed Abbasi would strive to beat its record.
Farooq H. Naek said that the Committee has touched upon the issues of utmost importance. He appreciated the Chairmanship of Senator Javed Abbasi and said that he has excellent skills to cope with the difficult situations and create a consensus without being harsh. While presenting the performance of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice during last three year (2015-2018) Chairman of the Committee Senator Javed Abassi apprised the members that Committee presented 62 Reports during the three years period and 71 meetings of the Committee were held.
Among various Bills and the matters referred by the House during this period the Committee presented its Reports on the important matters and bills including Report on “Affairs of Cooperative Housing Societies in Islamabad particularly the violations committed by them in planning and allocation of land for community services”, Report on “Steps taken/being taken by the Government against illegal Housing Societies in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Implementation of Building Code, with particular reference to provisions regarding earthquake, for suggesting penal provisions, measures and mechanism regarding violation of said Code, Proposed amendments in the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority Act, 1996, “Review of the Section 25 which deals with voluntary return and plea bargaining of the NAB Ordinance, 1999”, Matter raised by Senator Saeed Ghani regarding recalling/ withdrawal of Order by the Chairman NAB wherein acting/ current charges were given to various officers of NAB in violation of rules and reappointment of same officers, on the same day, in the Own Pay Scale (OPS), “The Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Bill, 2016”, “The PANAMA Papers Inquiries Bill, 2016”, “The Contempt of Court (Amendment) Bill, 2016” (introduced by Senator Farhatullah Babar), “The Supreme Court Number of Judges (Amendment) Bill, 2016”, The Legal Practitioners and Bar Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016, “The Alternate Dispute Resolution Bill, 2017, “The Cost of Litigation Bill, 2017”, “The Elections Bill, 2017”, “The Public Interest Disclosures Bill, 2017”, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017” (Amendment of Article 153 to provide a Constitutional provision to ensure equal provincial representation in the Council of Common Interest)moved by Senators Murtaza Wahab and Saleem Mandviwala, Current Report on the issue of Hanging in Public.
He further said that in finalization of its reports the Law Committee also invited all stake holders including lawyers, Bar Associations, human rights forums, provincial governments departments, institutions like Pakistan Engineering Councils and experts as well. During this period, the Committee also took briefings from the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the National Accountability Bureau on the work and performance of these institutions.
Published in Daily Times, April 20th 2018.