PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Monday posted an additional district and sessions judge, Wadeeya Mushtaq Malik, as presiding officer of an exclusive child protection court in Peshawar under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act, 2010.

Her posting at the child protection court was made through an order released by PHC registrar Khwaja Wajihuddin on Monday regarding transfers and postings of 38 additional district and sessions judges.

Ms Wadeeya Mushtaq has presently been serving as ADSJ in Lakki Marwat. This is for the first time that a separate child protection court is being set up under the Child Protection and Welfare Act (CPWA).

Following the enactment of the law, the high court had conferred powers of child protection court upon district and sessions judge in every districts of the province and there was no exclusive child protection court.

Under section 15 of the Act, a separate child protection court could be notified for a particular area, whereas the high court could also confer powers of child protection court on a DSJ or ADSJ. Recently, civil society groups and individuals have been requesting the high court to set up separate child protection courts in the province.

Few days ago, representative of an NGO, Group Development Pakistan, including Valerie Khan, Imran Takkar and known child rights activist Arshad Mahmood had met the high court’s registrar and had also assured that the organisation would make arrangements for setting up of the child protection court.

The court will be set up at the Judicial Complex and the said organisation would assist judiciary in its renovation so that it should be displaying friendly atmosphere and suitable for conducting proceedings in relation to vulnerable children.

The court will be having multiple functions including issuing orders in respect of handing over the custody of a child at risk to his parents, guardian, a suitable person or a child protection institution, as the case may be; monitoring the status of the child at risk through reports submitted by the child protection officers.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2019