LAHORE, Oct 12: Federal Law, Justice and Human Rights Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Wasi Zafar has said around 100 federal and provincial laws and more than 60 reports on a number of legislations are being examined by his ministry to reform the legal and judicial system for the benefit of society and the litigants.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, Mr Zafar said quick disposal of cases and augmenting the judicial system with the Asian Development Bank-sponsored "Access to Justice Programme" was the primary focus of the ministry to achieve the objectives.

He said the government planned to bring about sweeping changes in the Pakistan Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Civil Procedure Code to make the legal system compatible with the current legal requirements.

The laws being examined include the Hudood Ordinance, the Blasphemy Act, the Law of Evidence (Qanoon-i-Shahadat), abolition of Vani in the NWFP, laws relating to the rights of children to bring those in conformity with the International Convention of the Rights of the Child, personal laws concerning the Christian and Hindu communities, laws to regulate brick kiln workers, relating to domestic violence, and the rights of women and religious minorities.

Among other laws are pre-emption, the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, labour laws to bring those in conformity with various ILO conventions and covenants, the Limitation Act, laws relating to enforcement of women's right to inheritance, the Companies Ordinance, the Zakat and Ushr Ordinance, the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance and those concerning accountability, rights of senior citizens, and freedom of information.

Also under review are the electoral laws like the composition and functions of the Election Commission of Pakistan, the Delimitation of Constituencies Act, the Electoral Rolls Act, the Political Parties Act of 1976 and the Representation of People Act.

The ministry, he said, was also examining the laws pertaining to the representation of women in assemblies and local councils and also the system of proportional representation.

Mr Zafar said all the laws under examination were part of the recent Pakistan Law Commission reports. He said he could say nothing about fate of the laws taking a new turn, but could ensure they would serve the objectives in a better way.