06 October 2004	Wednesday	20 Shaban 1425

LAHORE, Oct 5: Federal Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights Chaudhry Muhammad Wasi Zafar says the government is pondering the establishment of a federal court to reduce workload on superior courts.

Mr Zafar told Dawn here on Tuesday that a constitutional amendment would be required to establish the federal court which would share the workload on the high courts in expediting disposal of cases and ensure seedy justice to litigants.

He said the government also wanted to bring about sweeping changes to a number of laws, including the Pakistan Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Civil Procedure Code to make them compatible with the present-day legal requirements.

He said the primary concern of the government was to push disposal of criminal and civil disputes as fast as possible which was a prerequisite to the establishment of a just society that was the fundamental objective of the Musharraf government.

Also included in the list of laws needed to be amended were the labour laws, laws pertaining to the federal and provincial services, the federal minister said. He said the labour laws were required to be amended in view of the needs to usher in an era of an improved worker-employer relationship to boost productivity.

Mr Zafar said changes in the procedure of courts and other related laws were ordained in several reports prepared from time to time by various law commissions, which were still awaiting implementation.

He said he was doing nothing new but trying to make the past judicial reforms to see the light of the day. He said some of the recommendations made in these reports promised a revolution in the field of law and the working of the judiciary.

Talking to newsmen earlier, the federal minister said President Gen Pervez Musharraf was not bound to shed his uniform or leave the office of the chief of the army staff as article 63(i)(d) of the constitution, which was ordained through the 17th Amendment, stipulated no conditions for the president to cast away his uniform.

He, however, said that the president would take an "appropriate decision at an appropriate time" if he should leave the COAS office. The matter was yet to be decided and the agitation in this regard was uncalled for. In reply to a question, he said the Punjab government would alone be able to tell if it was brining a new law on curbing terrorism in the province.

CALL: The minister also called on the chief justice of the Lahore High Court, Justice Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry, during his maiden visit (as minister) to his parent bar. He said he had exchanged views on the amendments in different laws in his meeting with the chief justice. Accompanied by his friend and chamber colleague Muhammad Kazim Khan, the minister also visited the LHC bar to see friends and senior colleagues.