ISLAMABAD, Oct 5: The existing laws and provisions should be made effective to cope with the problems faced by women who are being deprived of their rights.

This was the consensus reached at a workshop on the effective enforcement of female’s rights of inheritance. The workshop was organized by the Pakistan Law Commission.

The speakers observed that the issue required further study in the light of the discussion to evolve short-term and long-term strategies, besides launching an extensive public awareness campaign, specially in the light of the principles laid down in the Supreme Court’s judgment in Ms Sarwar Naqvi’s case.

They suggested that suits or claims relating to female inheritance should be decided through some summary inquisitorial mechanism, preferably through process of amicable dispute resolution and courts under Small Claims and Minor Offences Ordinance.

Section 42 of the Land Revenue Act should be amended to provide effective mechanism for verification of share in inheritance by some higher revenue officer instead of Halqa Patwari/Headman, and all mutations of inheritance might be entered by conducting local inquiry on the spot.

They said every department maintaining record of rights should be responsible for periodically updating the record of rights after going through an inquiry. The local women councillors should be assigned the job of creating awareness among women about their inheritance rights and to verify claims of minors and female shares of their constituencies.

It was also observed that public opinion/views should be sought before formulating recommendations for presentation before the law commission.

Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, judge, Supreme Court of Pakistan, presided over the workshop while Justice Shafiur Rehman (retired), Syed Afzal Haider, senior advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan, Chaudhry Hassan Nawaz, director-general, Federal Judicial Academy, Hafiz S.A. Rehman, deputy attorney general for Pakistan, Dr Aslam Khaki, advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan, Naheeda Mahboob Ellahi, advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan participated in the workshop.

The officials concerned of the CDA’s revenue department, district/revenue administration, Islamabad, eminent scholars/subject specialists and officers of the Pakistan Law Commission also attended.