Legal body asks Pervez to reinstate CJ

ISLAMABAD: An international legal body has asked Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to reinstate the suspended Chief Justice and to take immediate steps to restore confidence in the judiciary.

In its interim report, the London-based International Bar Association (IBA) proposed that the allegations of misconduct against the chief justice contained in the presidential reference should be referred to the appropriate authority as determined by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

An IBA delegation that came to Pakistan on a fact-finding mission recently and consequently submitted its report, says, "We share the perception of the vast majority of the legal profession that the actions of the president and the authorities constitute a direct assault on the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary".

The IBA commissioned a rapid-response delegation to investigate the circumstances and implications for the independence of judiciary and the rule of law arising from the attempt to remove the chief justice from the office in March
2007.

"The IBA will release its full report in the weeks to come but given the urgency of the situation, released this preliminary report today," 'The News' quoted the report as saying.

It called upon the president to take immediate steps to restore confidence in the judiciary and to demonstrate Pakistan's commitment to the independence of the judiciary and respect for the rule of law.

The body has also recommended to the president to rescind the March 9 order purporting to restrain the CJP from carrying out his functions and that of March 15 purporting to place the CJP on 'compulsory leave'.

In its concluding remarks, the report notes that these events give rise to many serious issues of Pakistani law that are now before the SJC and SC.

However, these events also plainly raise serious issues, involving basic notions of judicial independence and procedural fairness under generally accepted international norms and 'it is upon those norms that we base this report,' it said.

"We conclude that from March 9 to March 13, the atmosphere of intimidation and coercion brought to bear upon the CJP in an attempt to force his resignation is plainly unacceptable," the report said.

The IBA delegation comprised Robert Sharpe, Justice of the Court of Appeal for Ontario (Canada), Dr Phillip Tahmindjis, Programme lawyer, International Bar Association, and Michelle Bradfield, research fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International law, University of Cambridge.