PESHAWAR: The Federal Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (Safron) has directed Civil Secretariat Fata to start work on codification of Riwaj (customary laws) in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

The documentation of customary laws is part of the reforms package prepared by the six-member committee that compiled a set of recommendations for the political streamlining of Fata. Sartaj Aziz, the adviser to prime minister on foreign affairs, was chairman of the committee that prepared the 80-page report.

Sources said that Safron Secretary Mohammad Shehzad Arbab asked senior officials of the Civil Secretariat Fata last week to start documentation of Riwaj in the seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions (FRs).

The meeting was told to set up larger team for every tribal agency and frontier region to hold discussion with the elders and legal experts of the area and seek their input for codification of Riwaj. Teams would be notified within a month.

Officials said that Parliament was likely to start debate on the committee’s recommendations in first week of October. They said that government would pass an Act from the Parliament to provide constitutional cover to the recommendations of Sartaj Aziz-led committee that would also include merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Codification of Riwaj is part of reforms package prepared by six-member committee for tribal areas

Presently customary law is available in written form in Kurram Agency in the entire tribal belt. Called as Qanoon Riwaj Kurram or Toreezona (the laws and customs of Kurram), it was codified on the directive of the then political agent Lt-Col W.C Lapper in 1944.

His assistant political agent Abdul Rashid had written the customary laws for the area and it was translated from English into Urdu in 1947. Issues and disputes among the local tribes or families are being resolved through Riwaj Kurram.

“We have Toreezona, which can provide baseline for codification of Riwaj in other tribal agencies and FRs of Fata,” said a senior official. He said that elders and legal experts would be consulted before documentation of the customary laws.

Mr Shehzad had served as secretary of the six-member committee, which was set up in November 2015. The committee recommended repealing Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and enacting a new “Tribal Areas Riwaj Act”.

The committee proposed that jirga system should be retained for both civil and criminal matters, whereby the judge would appoint a ‘Council of Elders’ to decide factual issues in accordance with Riwaj and would pass a decree in accordance with the findings in a civil reference or pass an order in accordance with its findings and applicable law in criminal reference.

The committee in its recommendations suggested that any legal instrument, which incorporated “Riwaj” as part of the judicial process, must ensure that it was not in conflict with fundamental rights as well as other substantive laws administered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“The committee considered retention of Riwaj as an acceptable tool for criminal as well as the civil justice system,” it observed, therefore it wanted to tread a cautious path and propose a system, which was not disruptive and at the same time was in line with the wishes of the people of the area.

It said that judicial process based on Riwaj would be formalised and codified in such a manner that those would become an integral part of their judicial system having passed through the scrutiny of the superior courts.

A retired civil officer, who served in Fata, said that large portions of Riwaj and customs in tribal areas were outdated and in conflict with fundamental rights and existing laws of the land as well as international conventions. He said that extensive awareness campaign and debate were required before the codification of Riwaj.

Published in Dawn September 26th, 2016