ISLAMABAD, March 6, 2014: The Senate witnessed introduction of three bills during seventh sitting of its 102nd session on Thursday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet based on direct observation of the proceedings.

Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights introduced the bills which were referred to the relevant committees. These include the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2014; the Federal Court (Repeal) Bill, 2014 and the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (Amendment) Bill, 2014.

Chairman, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs presented report on the Pakistan Sovereignty Bill, 2010 but the House didn’t approve the bill and dropped it.

Sponsored by PPPP Senator, the House took up a calling attention notice (CAN) regarding issuance of SRO altering the terms and conditions of some service groups to their disadvantage in contravention of the provisions of the Civil Servants Act, 1973.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and 28 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1126 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours with a delay of 56 minutes.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• Eighteen senators were present at the outset while 39 were there at the adjournment. A maximum of 52 members were observed to be present at a point during the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MQM, PML, PkMAP, PPPP, ANP, JUI-F and PML-N attended the proceedings.
• Two minority members attended the sitting.
• Eight members applied for leave.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for two hours and one minute.

Output

• Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights introduced the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2014 seeking amendment in Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973. The bill recommends setting up of Islamabad Bar Council after establishment of a full-fledged High Court for Islamabad Capital Territory.
• The Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights also introduced the Federal Court (Repeal) Bill, 2014 to repeal the Federal Court Act, 1937.
• The National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (Amendment) Bill, 2014] was also introduced to amend the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee Ordinance, 2002. The bill suggests inclusion of the Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court as member of the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee.
• Chairman, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs presented report on the Pakistan Sovereignty Bill, 2010 but the House didn’t approve the bill and dropped it.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Sponsored by PPPP Senator, the House took up CAN regarding issuance of SRO altering the terms and conditions of some services groups to their disadvantage in contravention of the provisions of the Civil Servants Act, 1973.

• Twelve out of 20 starred questions (requiring oral as well as written answers) on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministries. Additionally, 38 supplementary questions were asked.

Order and Institutionalization

• Lawmakers spoke on nineteen points of order for an hour and two minutes.
• No instance of protest, walkout or boycott was witnessed during the sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on senators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization; a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions excepted.