PR No. 62 LAW MINISTER CALLS FOR PROPOSALS TO PROTECT WOMEN IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM Islamabad: October 08, 2018

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Mr. Farogh Naseem along with Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Barrister Maleeka Bukhari held a meeting on Monday to develop a comprehensive plan for ensuring protection of women in criminal justice system. The meeting that was held in order to seek suggestions from all the concerned stakeholders was attended by officials from provincial law departments, Home departments as well as the police departments. Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice, Ms. Maleeka Bukhari presented various proposed actions on the occasion including secondary legislation on existing laws like National Commission for the Rights of Child Act, 2017; Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018 and Implementation of Anti-honor Killing and Anti-Rape Laws. Need for enactment of pending legislation was also stressed during the presentation. It was suggested that relevant provisions of Pakistan Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure may be amended in order to prevent public officials from misusing their authority. Since qisas often results in compromise in honor crime cases, waiver of qisas until completion of trial was also proposed. Prosecutor General Punjab Mr. Ihtisham Qadir, suggested that the prosecutor may be given increased authority in the cases of rape and violence against women. The prosecutor should be able to give directions to the Investigation Officer. He also stressed the need for the admissibility of scientific evidence like DNA. IG Gilgit Mr. Sanaullah Abbasi suggested increase in level of the investigator to DSP or ASP level in order to protect the victim. He further suggested that qisas and diyat laws may be hardened to end compromise in cases pertaining to violence against women. Mr. Bilal Kamyana , DIG Lahore called for the misconception regarding Diyat Laws to removed since Diyat does not apply in cases of of intentional murder and murder in cold blood. Ms. Khawar Mumtaz and Ms. Fouzia Viqar were also present during the meeting while Barrister Ambreen Abbasi , Deputy Legislative Advisor was in attendance from Ministry of Law and Justice. Federal Minister for Law and Justice thanked the participants for their valuable suggestions and asked them to share concrete proposals in coming days. ***** ?

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