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| India-Pakistan |
| Rethinking the FIR |
| 2021-08-03 |
| [NATION.PK] Over the past two decades, Pakistain’s legal system has faced consistent criticism with regards to outdated criminal justice laws and the lack of convictions that result from our porous system of justice. This criticism, which also featured in the recent evaluation of Pakistain’s performance in the FATF, requires deliberate focus and reform by the State of Pakistain. In particular, the debate concerning reform of criminal justice laws—and in particular anti-terrorism laws—stems from recognition of two specific issues relating to prosecution of terrorist suspects: 1) allegedly, the law enforcement agencies are unable to apprehend, detain and investigate terrorist suspects and 2) even when such terrorist suspects are brought before a court of law, no conviction takes place owing to lack of sufficient evidence, or due to improper investigation. The first of these two issues—apprehension, detention and investigation of the suspects—is mostly operational in nature, dealing less with legislative provisions and more with the capacity and operational expertise of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies. And consequently, improvement of this issue requires a long-term strategy that encompasses training and capacity building of our law enforcement establishment. The second of the two issues—prosecution of suspects in a manner that results in meaningful convictions—squarely falls within the four corners of legislative reform, along with its interpretation and implementation. |
| Posted by:Fred |