November 26, 2008	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 27, 1429

PESHAWAR, Nov 25: Provincial Law Minister Arshad Abdullah has said members of the NWFP Assembly will be given in-camera briefing on the situation in Swat in the coming session.

Talking to journalists after presiding over a consultative workshop here on Tuesday, he said the provincial assembly session, which would be held in mid-December, would inform the legislators about the factual situation in the conflict-hit Swat valley.

The legislators would meet President Asif Ali Zardari, who was likely promulgate the Nizam-i-Adal Regulation, said the minister when asked about enforcement of the regulation in the Malakand region.

The consultative workshop was organised by the Aurat Foundation under its Legislative Watch Programme to seek recommendations to improve Muslim Family Laws (MFL).

It may be mentioned here that the Legislative Watch Programme (LWP) has been conducting research and advocacy on issues of women’s legal rights.

The MFL is one of them, which is a set of six laws including Nikahnama form. The LWP had held a number of working group meetings with legal experts on the MFL from time to time, said Uzma Mehboob, regional coordinator of the programme.

A number of discussions on the laws, she said, had also been held with different stakeholders in Islamabad and Karachi. Many recommendations had been drawn from these meetings and discussions, she added.

The event, Ms Mehboob said, was being held to share the recommendations on the four working drafts of the MFL Ordinance, The West Pakistan Family Courts Act, 1964, The West Pakistan Family Courts Rules, 1965, The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, with legislators, lawyers, jurists and activists.

The second session of the day was chaired by NWFP Assembly secretary Saleem Khan. He said the amendments were vital for a just society.

The recommendations so presented were supported by a majority of the participants. They also gave suggestions for ensuring proper implementation of the laws. The will of the government and political parties was needed for proper implementations, they stressed.

The gathering unanimously adopted the overall recommendations and suggested that the amendments to the Muslim Family Laws should be extended to tribal areas.