Can a law which has not been given assent by president as required under art.75 of the Constitution of Pakistan be "deemed" to have become law after passage of 10 days during which time the president was supposed to either give assent or decline & send back the bill?
a thread...
Art.75 of the constitution provides two possible rounds for legislative process once both houses of parliament have passed a bill in separate sittings in normal course. In the 1st round under article 70, the bill passed by parliament in separate sittings goes to the president
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...who may (a) give assent to the bill, (b) or decline with a general or specific recommendation for reconsideration by parliament of the version of law it passed earlier (this is supposed to be done in 10 days). The first round attains finality if president gives assent.
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Second round of legislative process (see article 72) is triggered if president declines to give assent to the bill already passed in separate sittings of both houses of parliament with a general or specific recommendation for reconsideration of the law previously passed.
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In the second round, parliament must reconsider the bill in a mandatory joint sitting. Once the law is passed with/without amendment(s) by a majority of both houses in a joint sitting, the president must give assent to it within 10 days,
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or the bill thus passed by parliament will be “deemed” to have been given assent by president. The constitution doesn’t provide for a deeming situation in the first round as described above. In the first round what is essential and more important is assent or decline.
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The text of art.75(1) suggests that for a bill to become law of the land as a result of the attempt in the first round, it is more important for it to achieve assent by president, than its return to parliament within a period of 10 days which pales into lesser significance 7/
if not complete insignificance, esp bec there’s no deemed result in the first round as a consequence of president's failure to act as expressly provided in second limb of art.75(2) for the second round which is triggered due to decline or failure to act on part of president
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i.e. once the law is passed by parliament in joint sitting, with or without amend(s), it must necessarily result in becoming an enforceable law regardless of what may be done or not by president. This consequence is not envisaged in the 1st round as encapsulated in art.75(1).
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*caution: in the very first tweet words "Can a law..." should be read as "Can a bill..."
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Since I'm Asmat's lawyer, I feel the record needs to be put straight as the bit in the tweet being referred to (below) about my address to the court misrepresents what I stated at the bar. #JusticeForNoor
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I raised a very simple but critical objection: the accused are entitled to examine, understand & receive all evidence against them bef charge can be framed. It would be unfair to consider adequate the provision of the prosecution statements (list provided) 2/
as it would violate the right to a fair trial guaranteed in art.10A of the constitution.
You would appreciate that charge cannot be framed unless the accused examine, understand and receive all the documentary evidence incl electronic docs.
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Child labour, law & the state
A few quick thoughts
There are several imp aspects & details which need to be revisited so far as reform of law re to 'child labor' is concerned. Specific to Zohra's case a couple of issues, among others, are worth pointing out.
1) a change in federal law i.e. the Employment of Children Act 1991 won't have an impact in provinces; provincial laws must also change which in this case is the Punjab Restriction on Employment Act 2016. 2) mere addition of 'domestic labor' to the schedule could keep the
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possibility of differing interpretations of the law open unless definition clauses are not duly amended.
The best option is to make child labor related laws simpler. The aim should be to minimse incidence of child labour permitted under the law i.e. labour for under 18.
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Today, an anti-terror ct in Lahore acquitted all those who were accused of lynching 2 men in Youhanabad. Toward the end, some def lawyers moved the case in the direction of an out of court settlement which should not have happened. Unfortunately, it did despite the fact
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that it was obv since beginning that it was a case of acquittal. Yet, 43 men belonging to poor Christian community of Youhanabad & vicinity were incarcerated for almost 5 long yrs because the govt & prosecution found it appropriate to punish them thru trial #Youhanabad
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2 out of 43 accused died in prison as a result of torture & ill treatment. But no accountability has taken place.
The social costs which such cases entail are never assessed. The families were stigmatised and separated from their loved ones for a long period of time.
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