ISLAMABAD, April 14: The participants of the International Judicial Conference during the second-day proceedings on Saturday held discussions on variety of topics including the role of judiciary in promoting the culture of tolerance in the society.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Supreme Court (SC) judges, chief justices and judges of Federal Shariat Court (FSC) and high courts, foreign delegates, representatives of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), bar councils and bar associations from all over Pakistan are participating in the three-day conference.

Group I which discussed the role of judiciary as a catalyst in promoting a tolerant society was chaired by SC Judge Mian Saqib Nisar while Dr Arparslan Altan, Vice President Turkish Constitutional Court and Yaseen Azad, President SCBA were amongst the panelists.

Group II dilated upon the utmost important issue of terrorism and money laundering. Abdul Salam Azimi, Chief Justice of Afghanistan was on the panel.

Group III deliberated upon the role of judiciary in good governance. The participants were of the view that the assurances of fundamental human rights were the basic ingredients of good governance and the judiciary was the ultimate protector of these rights. Z.M. Yacoob, Deputy Chief Justice, South Africa spoke on the issue.

Group IV held discussion on Alternative Dispute Mechanism (ADR) which could decrease the workload on the courts andprovide speedy justice to the people. Delissa A. Ridgway, Judge of the United States Court of International Trade and Ms.

Hannah Tuempel, Manager of International Centre for ADR, Paris spoke on the occasion.

Group V, under the chairmanship of Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Judge Supreme Court of Pakistan highlighted the importance of judicial education to improve the standard of judicial system. Professors of law from United Kingdom and other countries including the Pakistani academia are the speakers.

Group VI was chaired by Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Judge Supreme Court of Pakistan and the group discussed the global issue of parental child abduction and transnational jurisdiction. Delegates from UK, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan took part in the discussion.

Group VII took up environmental law and public interest litigation. Mr. Justice Altamas Kabir, Senior Judge, Supreme Court of India expressed his views on the issue.

Gender bias was the topic of deliberation of Group VIII. The concluding session of the conference will be held on Sunday (today).