04 December 2004	Saturday	21 Shawwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, Dec 3: Federal Law Minister Wasi Zafar said on Friday a bill for the establishment of commercial courts (FCC) in the federal as well as provincial capitals would be presented in the National Assembly soon.

These courts will also be set up in all major cities with the passage of time according to requirement, the minister said.

These courts are being established with the consultation of chief justices of high courts for the disposal of cases regarding financial matters of trading companies and individuals.

The minister said this while talking to media men at his office about the establishment of the courts. Responding to a question regarding the existing system, he said all courts and tribunals presently working in this regard would continue previous practice as per routine.

The newly established FCC would be a forum for appeals against the decisions of all the lower courts and tribunals about financial matters. Appeals against the decisions to be passed by the commercial courts could be filed in the Supreme Court, the minister said.

He dispelled the impression that the government was creating parallel courts in the presence of existing judicial system. Preliminary draft of the laws governing the matters like intellectual property rights, sales tax and banking have been prepared and hoped that these would be presented in the cabinet next month before the presentation in the parliament.

"We will take all the stakeholders, including lawyers, into confidence before finalizing the draft of these laws," he said. The draft of the bill will be sent to all bar associations and organizations of the lawyers for consultation, recommendations and improvement, he said.

The law ministry has hired the services of two retired judges, Justice Shafiur Rehman and Justice Fazal Karim, for the examination of the bill as well as recommendations regarding legal reforms, he told the journalists. -APP