Press Release Title: Senator Farooq Hamid Naek, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice presiding over a meeting of the committee at Parliament House Islamabad

Press Release Date: 7th September, 2026

Senate Committee Reviews Functioning of Special Courts and Tribunals, Juvenile Justice Amendments    The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice met today at Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Farooq Hamid Naek.    The committee received a detailed briefing by the secretary ministry of Law and Justice on the establishment, administration and functioning of Special Courts and Tribunals constituted under various federal statutes and placed under the administrative control of the Ministry of Law and Justice in terms of the Rules of Business, 1973.   The committee examined the number of courts and tribunals lying vacant due to non-appointment of Presiding Officers, reasons for non-appointment, the number of cases pending before each court and tribunal, monthly disposal rates, and the necessity of establishing new courts or tribunals or abolishing existing ones in view of the available workload.   During the briefing, the committee reviewed the number of accountability courts and other specialized courts, including the number of cases pending and the need to rationalize their structure according to workload. The Committee issued specific instructions regarding reduction of number of accountability courts throughout the country in particular and any other special court in general according to the number of pending cases. The Chairman was of the view that the number of courts should be as per number of pending cases in order to decrease load on public exchequer and to utilize the services of the Judges in such courts where pendency is higher.  The minister of State on Law and Justice was of the view that abolishing courts solely on the basis of an apparent reduction in workload could create difficulties as in future when the work load may increase then re-establishment of courts involves lengthy procedures.   The Committee directed that if there are some areas where the Government apprehends increase in cases in future then in those areas the courts may not be abolished but the cases may be transferred to one court while the other courts remain vacant so the judges may be relieved accordingly to serve in some other court.   The committee also discussed the status of courts dealing with narcotics-related cases. Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro questioned the constitutional and legal basis for maintaining federal or central narcotics courts after the 18th Amendment, arguing that narcotics-related matters are not a federal subject and that such courts should consequently be provincial rather than central in nature. Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro maintained that the central narcotics courts should be abolished in light of the post-18th Amendment constitutional framework. The committee directed the Ministry of Law and Justice to examine the matter in detail, apply the relevant law and provide a comprehensive briefing on the constitutional status of CNS Courts in the next meeting.   As far as the Tribunals are concerned, the Committee directed that in next meeting a detailed briefing may be given on statutory framework, mode of appointments, province-wise memberships of the tribunals and the authority of appointment of all Tribunals.   The committee subsequently considered "The Juvenile Justice System (Amendment) Bill, 2026", introduced by Senator Sarmad Ali. The Mover briefed the objects and reasons of the Bill. The Ministry submitted a clause by clause comparative statement along with reasons of opposition of the Bill. The Chairman directed the Mover to go through the clause by clause objections of the Ministry and deferred the Bill till next meeting. Senator Zhamir Hussain Ghumro raised the question as to whether the Juvenile Law is a criminal law or not to which the Chairman ruled that Juvenile Justice System law is a criminal law which is within the legislative competence of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament).   The Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and The Pakistan Psychological Council Bill, 2025" were deferred due to absence of the Movers.    The committee further considered the matter of salaries, allowances and other prerequisites of law officers, including Assistant Attorneys General and Deputy Attorneys General. The Secretary Law and Justice informed that summaries have been moved as per direction of the Committee in previous meeting which will take due course of time. The Committee granted 2 weeks time to complete the codal formalities in connection with bringing the salaries of law officers at par and observed that the implementation status may be informed in next meeting.    The meeting was attended by Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro, Senator Sarmad Ali and senator Shahadat Awan. Minister for law and justice and other senior officials also attended the meeting