ISLAMABAD, Sep 4 (APP):Federal Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Dr Farogh Naseem on Saturday wrote a letter to the Prime Minister to reform criminal law.
According to the spokesman of the ministry, the Law Minister also referred a comprehensive document containing all the proposed amendments to the Prime Minister.
He stated that 225 central and 644 sub-amendments had been proposed in the laws and the purpose for these amendments was to completely reforming the criminal justice system.
These laws include the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, the Qanun-e-Shahadat order 1984, the Control of Narcotics Act 1997, the Railways Act 1890, the Pakistan Prison Rules 1978, the Islamabad Capital Territory Criminal Prosecution Service(Constitution, Functions and Powers) Act 2021 and Islamabad Capital Territory Forensic Science Agency Act 2021.
He said that great efforts were made under the leadership of the Law Minister to prepare amendments to the Criminal Law and opinions were also sought from all concerned departments including all Provincial Police, Islamabad Police, Prosecutors General and Prosecution Departments regarding amendments to these laws.
Consultations were also held with lawyers, NGOs, human rights lawyers, Home Secretaries of the four provinces and representatives of the Attorney General’s Office, he added.
He said that all Provincial Secretaries for Law and offices of Advocate Generals of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were also consulted. Relevant reports of the Law and Justice Commission were also scrutinized while preparing these amendments, he added.
He said that while preparing amendments all measures were considered to ensure speedy justice.
The purpose of these amendments was to complete overhaul of the criminal justice system and if passed, the amendments would be a major achievement to the criminal justice system, he added.
He said that these amendments were introducing an efficient and expeditious procedure for filing of FIRs.
The amendments would significantly reduce the number of pending cases and the time to pursue cases would be greatly reduced, he added.
He said that the proposed amendments would reduce the pressure of Police on people and
cases would be disposed of transparently as evidence gathering would be further improved and expedited.
The use of modern tools would be utilized for provision of justice, he added.
He said that these reforms would bring a revolution in the country.
In Pakistan’s 74-year history, no such reform had taken place and if these reforms were implemented, it would be remembered for long time, he added.
The federal law minister had referred the first draft of criminal law reform to the prime minister in June 2021 and after further consultation, Barrister Farogh Naseem forwarded the second draft of Criminal Law Reforms to the Prime Minister on Friday.
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