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KARACHI, Feb 20: Law should be used as an instrument of socio-economic change to realize the objectives and potential of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Chief Justice Nazim Hussain urged the leading members of the region's legal fraternity on Friday.
The main questions to ponder were whether the benefits of law were reaching the common man and did the law protect the weak and the vulnerable? the CJ told a gathering of legal luminaries from the Saarc countries in his address at the inaugural session of the three-day 10th Saarc-law Conference and the seventh South Asian Chief Justices Conference at a hotel here.
The conferences are being attended by Chief Justices V.N. Khare of India, Sarath N. Silva of Sri Lanka, Govinda Bahadur Shrestha of Nepal, K.M. Hasan of Bangladesh, Tobgye Lyonpo Sonam of Bhutan and Rasheed Ibrahim of the Maldives. Former chief justices Dr Nasim Hasan Shah, who is patron of Saarc-law, and Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, Lahore High Court senior judge Fakharunnisa Khokhar, Tax Ombudsman Justice Saleem Akhtar, prime minister's adviser Sharifuddin Pirzada, Sindh Bar Council executive chairman Abrar Hasan and Pakistan Bar Council member M. Akram Sheikh were among a large number of serving and retired judges and prominent lawyers present at the opening session.
Mementos were presented to the past Saarc-law presidents for their contribution to the promotion and development of the organization. Among the recipients was Indian lawyer K.K. Venugopal, who has established an institution for advanced studies in law for South Asian students at Hyderabad (Deccan) in the memory of his father, K.M. Namvyar.
Saarc-law President Mrs Dhara Wijayatilake and its Pakistan chapter chief, Justice (retired) G.H. Malik, were among the speakers at the inaugural session.
Working sessions on corporate governance and cyber and media laws and a legal framework to protect women and children would be held on Saturday while a valedictory session would mark the last day of the conferences on Sunday.
COMMON HERITAGE: The chief justice said the Saarc countries were bound not only by geographical proximity but also by a common heritage. Their customs, values and social structures were broadly similar, their legal and judicial systems practically the same and the common law constituted the strongest bond between them, he said.
Saarc, he said, had the potential to become a giant among regional groupings but regretted that a large majority of the region's population was living in deplorable conditions, which "cry out for redress."
The Saarc countries faced the same problems arising from poverty and ignorance, he said. The solutions could also be identical and each state could benefit from the experience of other, he said.
"It is to this end that law has to be directed because it is only through law that we can bring about change," he said and added that the next generation laws, the theme of the Saarc-law conference, needed, therefore, to be geared to usher in a socio-economic change.
MAIN ISSUES: Talking about the tremendous scientific and technological advancement, the CJ asked what was the state of knowledge and technology in South Asia? What advancement had been made in modernizing the legal systems and improving the performance of the judicial system? Was the supremacy of law acknowledged and practised? Was the law being used as an instrument of change to protect the poor, the vulnerable and the downtrodden. "In my humble view, these are the issues that must be addressed without delay," he said.
