Minister pens letter to PM for reforms in criminal laws

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Dr Farogh Naseem on Saturday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan to reform criminal laws.

According to the law ministry, the minister also referred a comprehensive document containing all the proposed amendments to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

In a letter, Farogh Naseem stated that 225 central and 644 sub-amendments had been proposed in the laws and the purpose for these amendments was to completely reform the criminal justice system.

These laws include the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, the Qanun-e-Shahadat order 1984, the Control of Narcotics Act 1997, the Railways Act 1890, the Pakistan Prison Rules 1978, the Islamabad Capital Territory Criminal Prosecution Service(Constitution, Functions and Powers) Act 2021 and Islamabad Capital Territory Forensic Science Agency Act 2021.

Great efforts were made under the leadership of the Law Minister to prepare amendments to the Criminal Law and opinions were also sought from all concerned departments including all Provincial Police, Islamabad Police, Prosecutors General and Prosecution Departments regarding amendments to these laws, read the letter.

Consultations were also held with lawyers, NGOs, human rights lawyers, Home Secretaries of the four provinces and representatives of the Attorney General’s Office, the letter stated.

Relevant reports of the Law and Justice Commission were also scrutinized while preparing these amendments, the minister wrote in a letter.

The document stated that while preparing amendments all measures were considered to ensure speedy justice.

The purpose of these amendments was to complete overhaul of the criminal justice system and if passed, the amendments would be a major achievement to the criminal justice system, he added.

The minister wrote that the proposed amendments would reduce the pressure of Police on people and cases would be disposed of transparently as evidence gathering would be further improved and expedited.

The federal law minister had referred the first draft of criminal law reform to the prime minister in June 2021 and after further consultation, Barrister Farogh Naseem forwarded the second draft of Criminal Law Reforms to the PM on Friday.