LONDON, Jan 17: Pakistan and the United Kingdom on Friday signed Judicial Protocol on abduction of children to ease their sufferings and agreed to appoint a special judge to liaison between judiciaries of the two countries.

It was announced at a joint press briefing by Chief Justice of Pakistan Sheikh Riaz Ahmed and Dame Elizabeth Butler Sloss, DBE President of the Family Division, Court of Appeal of England and Wales, at the conclusion of a 3-day UK-Pakistan Judicial Conference on Friday.

“We have signed the Protocol for full co-operation in removal of children, either from Pakistan to United Kingdom or United Kingdom to Pakistan that if the child is habitually resident of one of these countries or ordinary resident, in the normal case the child will be sent back to the country of habitual or ordinary residence. And the country to which the child has been wrongly taken will not deal with the case,” said Dame Elizabeth.

“We both, Pakistan as well as England, will nominate a judge as a liaison institution to communicate with each other and to monitor the achievement of the Protocol which was signed,” said Mr Ahmed.

A seven-member delegation comprising senior judges of Pakistan’s judiciary was led by Chief Justice of Pakistan at the conference which started here on Wednesday.

Justice Riaz said during their deliberations on Thursday that judges from both the countries worked to “arrive at a consensus and consensus has been arrived at”.

Among others it is attended by senior members of the British Judiciary and by Pakistan’s High Commissioner to UK Abdul Kader Jaffer and by justice Munir A. Sheikh, judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Nazim Hussain Siddqui, judge of Supreme Court, Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed senior puisne of High Court of Sindh, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Shah Jillani, judge of Lahore High Court, Justice Manzoor Hussain Gilani Chief justice of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Justice Mian Muhammad Ajmal judge of the Supreme Court.

Talking to APP on Thursday, he said the problem was the “welfare, care of the children and protection to the abducted children and also the custody of the children.”

Under this protocol, Justice Sheikh Riaz said, the abducted children either from Pakistan or from Britain, “whichever the country will be, the courts in Pakistan will have the jurisdiction, first to determine which is the habitual or ordinary residence of the child.”

“If it is proved that his residence was in Britain, he will be sent to Britain and if it is proved that his ordinary residence was in Pakistan then he will be retained in Pakistan,” said justice Sheikh Riaz.

Fielding another question he said, sometimes the children from Pakistan were abducted and brought them to England to deprive them of the custody of mother.

He said there were certain families where the mother did not want to go back to England but father wanted the children to go with him to UK and “ abducts them with the view to punish the mother therefore this protocol would also help Pakistan in many ways”.

Questioned what subject dominated discussion of the judicial conference on Thursday, justice Sheikh Riaz said, “the main focus was the welfare of the children and how to protect them? This has been the theme of the conference, the core of the issue about the custody and problems of the abducted children and also forced marriages”.

Forced marriage, he said, was also a problem being faced both in Britain and in Pakistan by families of Pakistani origin.

He said some parents forced their children to marry cousins in Pakistan. But this match was “totally unsuitable” and incompatible with their temperament due to cultural conflict and the different atmosphere they were educated or brought up.

Justice Sheikh Riaz said, he explained to British judges that Islam regarded marriage a “civil contract and consent of both parties is necessary.”—APP