Yearly Archives: 2015

Treaty Review of The International Covenant On Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

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  • Reading time:6 mins read

The Covenant was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966 and it came into force on January 3, 1976. As of 2015, the Covenant has 70 signatories and 164 parties. Pakistan signed the Covenant on November 3, 2004 and ratified it on April 17, 2008. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is a multilateral treaty aimed to commit its parties to work towards the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights. The Covenant aims to provide rights such as the right to health, right to education, right to social security, labour rights and right to an adequate standard of living. The implementation of the Covenant is monitored by a body of human rights experts known asthe Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. All state parties are required to submit regular reports to the Committee, outlining the legislative, judicial, policy and other measures taken to implement the rights given in the Covenant. *Basic Structure of the Covenant The Covenant begins with a preamble laying out its general message and is further divided into five parts which includes thirty one articles. Part 1: Article 1 lays down the right of all peoples to self determination, which includes the right to “freely determine their political status”, pursue their economic, social and cultural goals and the right to manage and dispose of their own resources. In no circumstances whatsoever, may people be deprived of their means of subsistence. It further imposes an obligation on state…

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Civil Courts and Constitutional Issues

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  • Reading time:23 mins read

The preamble to the Code of Civil Procedure (Act V of 1908) shows that this Act was enforced to consolidate and amend the laws relating to a procedure of the Courts of Civil Judicature.  Surprisingly definition of court is not provided in this Act. But the term “court” has been used in many sections of the CPC. Section 2 (5) defines a Foreign Court. It says that a Foreign Court means a court situate beyond the limits of Pakistan which has no authority in Pakistan and is not established or constituted by the Federal Government. As regards the local courts one may look into Section 3 which relates to subordination of courts. This provision of law speaks of District Courts, High Court and Civil Courts in addition to Courts of Small Causes. The most important Section in the CPC is Section 9. It is under this Section that a Suit of Civil nature is instituted in a Civil Court. Thus very wide powers have been conferred upon the Civil Courts to try all types of Civil Suits. It is correct that this Section puts an embargo also on the Jurisdiction of the Civil Courts but notwithstanding that the Civil Courts still assume jurisdiction to determine the legality or validity of any order passed by any authority constituted by law. In almost all the enactments the provisions relating to bar of jurisdiction of courts are added but as stated above the powers of the Civil Courts remain unfettered. The question regarding the jurisdiction is decided by the court itself. If…

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Court Structure in Pakistan

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  • Reading time:5 mins read

The Court structure in Pakistan is as follows:Supreme Court: Acts as the final guardian of the Constitution. It is also the final Court of Appeal in matters arising out of cases decided by the High Courts, and in this capacity, it replaces the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, sitting in London. The permanent seat of the Supreme Court is in Islamabad while it has branch registries in all four provincial capitals.High Court: the four High Courts in the Provinces, exercise general control over the administration of justice in their respective territorial limits. There is also High Court in federal Capital Islamabad. The High Court is an appellate Court for all Civil and Criminal matters in the respective province. Articles 192 to Article 203 in Part VII of the Constitution deal with matters pertaining to High Court functioning.Civil Courts: All Civil Courts are subordinate to the High Court and subject to the general superintendence and control of the High Court; the District Judge has control over all Civil Courts within the local limits of his jurisdiction. Civil Courts in Pakistan are established by the respective province under different laws titled the Civil Courts Ordinance 1962 which recognizes the following main classes of Civil Courts: The court of District Judge The court of Additional District Judge The court of Civil CourtCriminal Courts: The Criminal procedure in Pakistan is laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure 1868, whereas the substantive law about definition about a crime and its punishment is found…

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Arbitral Institutions, Arbitrators and the Parties: A Complex Relationship

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  • Reading time:24 mins read

It is commonly accepted that by choosing to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration, the parties waive off their right to an appeal; a right which is guaranteed if your dispute is resolved by a judge in a court. While, it certainly has its advantages of being quicker than litigation since the decision is final and binding upon the execution, it certainly has its disadvantages as well, particularly for the aggrieved party. The courts are ubiquitously reluctant to interfere in a decision rendered by the arbitrator or arbitral tribunal and one needs to have an extremely strong case to convince any judge to inter alia set aside the award. However, as the practice of international commercial arbitration becomes increasingly widespread and encouraged by the court, the stakes continue to increase; a party that has suffered loss through patent lack of care by an arbitrator may wish to seek to recover that loss from the arbitrator, personally. I have recently been involved in an arbitration, where it appeared that the arbitral institution had failed, in its administrative powers, to ensure that the arbitral tribunal renders an award within a reasonable time, if not expeditiously. Moreover, the appointment of the chairman of the arbitral tribunal seemed to have been ostensibly influenced by the arbitrator nominated by the other party. However, I would concede that as an aggrieved party, there is always an ulterior motive to find some loopholes or shortcomings to challenge the award. With no option of an appeal and observing the…

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