Cabinet approval for six more ordinances sought
Paying no heed to the ongoing criticism against the government for carrying out legislation through presidential ordinances, the law ministry has sent yet another summary to the federal cabinet to get approval for six more ordinances.
Through the summary, the law ministry has informed the federal cabinet that it has already "prepared" six ordinances and suggested that "keeping in view the urgency involved", these ordinances "are proposed to be promulgated immediately".
The ordinances, according to the law ministry's communication, have been pending before various committees of the National Assembly in the form of bills since long.
"As the legislative process will take substantial time, it is suggested that the bills …. maybe promulgated as ordinances," writes the law ministry in its summary to the federal cabinet, which is expected to meet on Oct 16.
The proposed six ordinances are as follows: the Letter of Administration and Succession Certificates Ordinance 2019; the Enforcement of Women's Property Rights Ordinance 2019; the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Ordinance 2019; the Superior Courts (Court Dress and Mode of Address) Order (Repeal) Ordinance 2019; the National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 and the Legal Aid and Justice Authority Ordinance 2019.
"In order to initiate legal reforms, the federal government constituted a task force under the chairmanship of the minister of law and justice [Barrister FaroghNasim] to propose laws with the primary objective to alleviate hardships of people of Pakistan. To secure and promote the rights of people in particular women, the said task force recommended new laws for the protection of women property rights, setting up of legal aid mechanism for the poor and vulnerable and a mechanism for issuance of succession certificates by National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra)," states the law ministry's summary arguing in support of its recommendations for early approval of the ordinances.
"Further, the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan empowers the superior courts of Pakistan i.e. Supreme Court and High Court to regulate its own practice and procedures. It is, therefore, proposed that the law regulating the court dress and mode of address may be repealed thus allowing superior courts to decide the appropriate dress code.