ISLAMABAD, Oct 12 (APP): Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem has said that Pakistan implemented almost all points of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to come out of its grey list, hoping the forum would not be used for any political move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pakistan\u2019s case with the FATF would be a test case to gauge the forum\u2019s fairness as \u201cout of 27 points, Pakistan has implemented 26. The international watchdog needs to apply the laws to all countries without any prejudice,\u201d he said in an exclusive interview with Turkish state news agency Anadolu on the sidelines of an event in Istanbul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven the FATF people are good people. I’m not being critical about them, but as long as these (FATF) standards are universally applied, and not applied to only Pakistan, and as long as there is no international politics, then we welcome FATF. Let it be applied to everyone,\u201d he said, when asked why Pakistan was still on the list. \u201cThere should be no international politics, but FATF is being used to arm twist. Then what can we say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The France-based FATF, founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7, an organization of the world\u2019s seven largest advanced countries, monitors countries\u2019 money flow and penalizes those whose financial systems are abused for money laundering and terrorism activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think we have met all objectives. At the (FATF) October session, Pakistan is going to give a very good roundup of whatever it has done,\u201d Farogh Naseem said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’m very hopeful,\u201d he said when asked whether Pakistan would exit the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019d like to believe it\u2019s a fair system. These international standards should be applied everywhere to every country,\u201d the minister said adding Pakistan was \u201cgrateful to Turkish brothers\u201d for their support at the FATF besides China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He proposed the establishment of a joint legal forum between Pakistan and Turkey besides intern exchange programs and the sharing of experiences between lawyer communities of the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Pakistani and Turkish lawyers are \u201ccapable of fighting their own cases at all forums.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a conversation with a group of Turkish lawyers hosted by 2nd number Bar Association of Istanbul in honor of the minister, Farogh Naseem said former judges and lawyers of the two countries could come together and the two countries could together fight cases of a commercial nature in the international arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referring to illegal immigration to Turkey, he said officials from Pakistan and Turkey were \u201cworking on a daily basis to cease this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also shared in detail the \u201ctransformation taking place in Pakistan\u201d with regard to the delivery of justice. His ministry, he said, has proposed around 650 amendments to the Pakistan National Assembly to make the dispensation of justice “fast and durable.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister said with Imran Khan\u2019s government has been in power for three years, \u201cthis transformation has already started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have made a new law, the inheritance law, and it takes 15 days for the succession certificate or the letter of administration to be issued,\u201d the minister said. He said earlier that it would \u201ctake four to seven years for a court to decide\u201d about the letter of administration or a succession certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen we made an attempt with the Civil Procedure Court. As you know that in India and Pakistan, it takes about 20 to 30 years before any civil dispute is settled. The problem is not just in Pakistan, but in many other countries. So what we did is that we made amendments, and those amendments ensure that a civil case would be tried within one year. It is working in Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Punjab, there is a little problem,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister said Pakistan is also working on women\u2019s empowerment laws, calling it \u201ca very big step.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farogh Naseem said women, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, can file a case with regard to property rights with female ombudsmen, who are \u201cavailable all over Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose women ombudsmen would decide their cases in between three to six months. So again, a great expedition (of case disposal) is available as far as that is concerned.\u201d He said many amendments have been brought to \u201crevamp the criminal justice system of Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have proposed about 650 amendments, and I think it\u2019ll take a few months before they had been passed by the National Assembly and the Senate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce it is done, a criminal trial, which takes years, will finish in nine months. These are matters which are not transformed in two or three years,\u201d he said, citing the UK as an example, where civil law reforms took about 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farogh Naseem claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government developed these reforms in a \u201crecord time,\u201d adding he said, \u201cBut it will take a little time for the courts and the lawyers and the litigants to adjust with these reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have reformed and revamped the complete criminal justice system,\u201d he said, adding Pakistani society was an \u201cover-litigated society\u201d with cases of all nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe systems in terms of legal reforms are pretty stringent. And if they are properly implemented, you\u2019ll be surprised how effectively these laws will work and revamp the system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the issue of an anti-blasphemy law in the country, Farogh Naseem said: \u201cI need to make clear: for the Pakistani government, Prime Minister Imran Khan and myself, we are in no mood to undo or repeal the blasphemy laws. We will not do it. We will not repeal the blasphemy laws. Yes, if there is abuse in the system, then abuses are to be pointed out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that in three years of Imran Khan’s government, there have been \u201chardly any FIRs (first information reports) or challans (charge-sheet) produced in blasphemy cases\u201d in Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, pointing to criticism by Western capitals against this law in Pakistan, he questioned the silence of these countries over Kashmir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy aren\u2019t they talking about the human rights abuses in Kashmir? Why aren’t they saying something about blatant human rights abuse by India in Kashmir? Why not a single word?\u201d he said, even asking why India was not under the radar of FATF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Pakistan was a \u201cresponsible state\u201d when asked about the review of a case pertaining to Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian spy who is in Pakistani custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPakistan is a responsible state. Pakistan is a party to the Vienna Convention. So if it is a party to the Vienna Convention, it means that the International Court of Justice [ICJ] would have jurisdiction with regard to any issues of consular access,\u201d the minister said regarding the case of Jadhav, who was arrested by Pakistan in early 2016 and was sentenced to death a year later for alleged “subversive activities against Pakistan.”
\u201cWith regard to Jadhav, India lost the main case. Because the main prayer (submission) made by India (before the ICJ) was that he should be released\u2026that he should be acquitted and released,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c(But) that prayer was dismissed by the ICJ. It is only this tiny part of the case that went against Pakistan, and that is with regard to consular access. And we have given him the consular access not once, but many times. And we\u2019ve not only done that; we\u2019ve complied with the ICJ\u2019s judgments by legislating an effective review and reconsideration law,\u201d Farogh Naseem said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister said, \u201cThat effective review and reconsideration law gives Jadhav the right to file a case in the Pakistani high courts and the Pakistani high courts are now possessed with such a law and the case. They are in the process of deciding, in terms of the directions which had been given by the ICJ, which is that there should be a review and reconsideration mechanism and that has been done,\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To a question about Kashmir, he said \u201cPakistan will not undo the Shimla Agreement,\u201d when asked about India scrapping the semi-autonomous status of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir territory in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPakistan believes in the various resolutions which have been passed by the United Nations Security Council [on Kashmir]. Pakistan is a responsible state, unlike India, which is a rogue state. India has violated the Shimla pact and the United Nations Security Council resolutions blatantly, and therefore, it is the responsibility of the United Nations to take action,\u201d Farogh Naseem said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is more than Pakistan\u2019s problem. It is now the writ of the United Nations which is at stake. The United Nations cannot see that its writ has been completely tarnished by the Indian government. There is a problem with regard to the functioning of the United Nations, and the United Nations will have to really take this up,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPakistan will keep on supporting the United Nations Security Council resolutions on Kashmir,\u201d Naseem said. He said India had not \u201conly violated its own constitutional basic structure, but also the United Nations Security Council resolutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese Security Council resolutions have been passed by the United Nations. They bind both Pakistan and India that with regard to the territories, which are under your administrative control, you will take no further action,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In view of India\u2019s Aug. 5, 2019 move on Kashmir, Farogh Naseem noted that \u201cit is a test for the United Nations more than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that Pakistan\u2019s position remains the same \u201cwhich means that there has to be a plebiscite and the people of Kashmir will have to decide as to what they choose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo until such a time that is done, there is a patent violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions by India,\u201d he said, thanking Turkey for its support on Kashmir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Law Minister said Pakistan has invited international journalists to visit both countries — Pakistan and India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe allow our security staff to take them to the Azad Kashmir area, and they are very happy to report that there is no abuse, whereas the Indian government does not let them go [to Kashmir],\u201d he claimed.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, Oct 12 (APP): Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem has said that Pakistan implemented almost all points of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to come out of its grey list, hoping the forum would not be used for any political move. Pakistan\u2019s case with the FATF would be a test case to […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,82],"tags":[765,766,764,767,64,63,65,763],"class_list":["post-1581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-paksitan","tag-fairness","tag-farogh-naseem","tag-fatf","tag-icj","tag-india","tag-kashmir","tag-pakistan","tag-test-case"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1581"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}