News
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Babar hints at revamping law department
* Law minister asks law officers to give honest opinions
* Says we need to take difficult decisions for good governance
KARACHI: Federal Law Minister Dr Babar Awan said on Saturday that major changes would take place in the Law Department as a part of the government’s policy for good governance in the country.
He stated this while addressing the provincial law officers at Sindh Assembly. Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Sindh CM’s Advisor on Information Sharmila Farooqui, Secretary Law Ghulam Nabi Shah, Advocate General Abdul Fatah Malik and Prosecutor General Shahadat Awan were also present on the occasion.
The minister that the government had decided to bring in major changes in the country, including the federal cabinet, and the Law Department was no exception. “We need to take difficult decisions for good governance,” he added.
He asked the law officers to give honest opinions, as state property worth billions of rupees and lives of people were at their disposal. “You are representing the state, so your prime concern is not to please everybody but to protect the interest of the country, the province and the deprived people,” he said.
He said he knew that how the state property was squandered due to weak preparation or non-preparation for cases and lethargic attitude of the law officers. In this regard, he had received a lot of complaints from the quarters concerned, he said.
Awan said a complaint cell had been set up in the Law Ministry headed by a grade 20 officer to address the complaints. He regretted that a lot of complaints had been received against law officers. “You need to improve the level of assistance,” he opined. He advised the law officers to adhere to the basic principles of excellence in case preparation and maintained that most of the objections and reservations of the courts were justified, as they (law officers) did not put the required labour in the cases. He asked them to refrain from adhocism and feel their responsibility.
Awan observed that the present government had introduced an impartial accountability process and for the first time, sitting ministers were appearing before courts and presenting themselves for their accountability. This was a paradigm shift, he noted.
He called upon political parties to come forward and strive for a law which is based on justice and not victimisation.
He said the government had laid the foundation for a transparent judicial system by unanimously passing 19th Amendment from the Parliament and thus addressed all the reservations raised by the Supreme Court and other stakeholders. He urged PML N Chief Nawaz Sharif to come to parliament and take part in its activities and do suggest what his party want. The parliament still had two more years, he added. He urged the PML N to show political maturity instead of mere criticism.
The Law Minister pointed out that the government introduced two major amendments in parliament in just one year. He said the leadership had the proven mettle and ability to steer the country out of trouble in tough times.
To a question, he said that MQM had presented its point of view and there was no deadlock. Their reservation had been addressed, he added. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk