February 16, 2009	Monday	Safar 20, 1430

PESHAWAR: Under the proposed Nizam-i-Adl (Sharia) Regulation the appellate and revisional jurisdiction of superior courts will be replaced with that of the Federal Shariat Court and executive magistracy will be revived in the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata).

The government will take all people and sections concerned into confidence over the regulation at a meeting to be held here on Monday. Lawmakers from Malakand region and leaders of major parties have been invited to the meeting.According to sources, drastic changes have been made in the previous draft of the regulation which was sent for approval to the president. The changes include making the Federal Shariat Court the last court of appeal.

Revival of the offices of district magistrates and executive magistrates has also been included in the proposed law which will replace the Sharai Nizam--i-Adl Regulation of 1999.

Some provincial officials were instrumental in making the changes in the draft, ostensibly to add to the powers of bureaucracy, the sources aid. The previous draft said that “Sharia bench means bench of the high court constituted for the said area under the Constitution for dealing with any case falling within the purview of this regulation.”

This definition has been deleted and a new provision added which states: “Appeal and revision -- subject to the Constitution, the Federal Shariat Court shall be the final court of appeal or, as the case may be, revision for the purpose of this regulation.”

Currently, appeals against judgments of different courts in Pata are filed in the Peshawar High Court, except in cases under the Hudood laws.

The proposed regulation says that in each district or protected area there shall be a district magistrate and additional district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate and other executive magistrates as the government deems necessary.

The district magistrate will supervise the process of investigation and prosecution. The executive magistrate will be exclusively empowered to try all offences under the Pakistan Penal Code punishable up to three-year imprisonment; offences punishable under local and special laws; and cases for prevention of breach of peace.

The government has also removed the provision of muavin-i-qazi (assistant to qazi) from the proposed regulation. An official said the chief of Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi had objected to the provision claiming that it would influence independence of the judges.

The earlier draft had proposed that the government, in consultation with the high court, would take necessary steps to establish as many courts as required to ensure speedy dispensation of justice within the prescribed time schedule. This provision has been removed from the draft.

Various functions of the high court mentioned in the earlier draft have also been removed.

The schedule of the proposed regulation includes around 125 laws which would be applicable to the Malakand region of Pata.

The region has seven districts -- Upper and Lower Dir, Swat, Buner, Shangla, Chitral and Malakand.

Under Article 247 of the Constitution, the governor, with prior approval of the president, can make regulations for peace and good governance in Pata. The regulation of 1999 had replaced the Pata Nifaz-i-Nizam-i-Shariat Regulation, 1994, which was introduced after an uprising led by the TNSM.