BASIL FERNANDO

Column: Burning Points
Iftekhar Chowdhury, the chief justice of Pakistan who was dismissed from office by President Pervez Musharraf after the imposition of emergency rule, has been recognized as Lawyer of the Year 2007 by the National Law Journal published in the United States.

This recognition is most appropriate. In Pakistan now the very existence of the legal profession and the judiciary as independent institutions is in imminent danger. It is to be hoped that the recognition conferred on the dismissed chief justice will evoke a response from lawyers, judges, all democratically minded people and governments regarding the endangered judiciary and the legal profession in the country.

What is now happening in Pakistan is not just a setback to these basic institutions of law and democracy but a possible downturn which, if not addressed now, could plunge Pakistan into completely arbitrary rule and lawlessness.

There are times when concerned members of the public are challenged to decide whether they could make a change for the better in a very critical situation. If they fail to do so they will have to sit and weep for many decades to come.

Already tremendous damage has been done within the last few weeks since the imposition of the emergency and the virtual dismissal of many judges from the Supreme Court and from the higher courts. This was accompanied by handpicked people being appointed judges in their place. The people of Pakistan will understand this as a fatal wound to the independence of the judiciary.

Musharraf, who sees himself as St. Michael fighting against the dragon of terrorism, has in fact turned his spear on the independent judiciary of his country. Certainly there is resistance to this move by the lawyers, judges and a very large section of the population. This resistance is the country's only hope in the battle for the independence of the judiciary against the military boot. The aim of this resistance is to bring back the dismissed judges to their respective courts and thereby undo the enormous damage done to this extremely important institution.

The recognition as Lawyer of the Year conferred on the former chief justice is fitting, as what is being challenged in Pakistan is the very meaning of the law in the country. The military ruler has treated the country's constitution as if it were toilet paper. He has flushed it down the drain and placed his own declarations and decrees in its place. In any country with respect for law his action would be treated either as that of a madman or as an act of treason, but the superpowers that keep Musharraf in power have not treated it that way. They treat the destruction of the very fabric of the rule of law cynically. Let millions of people's lives be thrust into a lawless situation, what do they care?

Now it falls on the lawyers and the judges, who have thought it worth sacrificing their careers to defend the independence of the judiciary, and the people of Pakistan to resist with all their strength the military design to destroy the independence of the judiciary in their country. Eminent lawyers like Munir Malik, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and some judges and lawyers who have even faced severe torture, arrest and detention show a determination that needs proactive support from democratically minded people all over the world. It is to be hoped that in this hour of great need they will not be betrayed.

Iftekhar Chowdhury is a symbol of this great historical moment. We hope that, having been recognized as Lawyer of the Year, he will also be treated in that way by the world community of lawyers, judges and democratically minded people.

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(Basil Fernando is director of the Asian Human Rights Commission based in Hong Kong. He is a Sri Lankan lawyer who has also been a senior U.N. human rights officer in Cambodia. He has published several books and written extensively on human rights issues in Asia.)

Link: http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Human_Rights/2007/12/18/pakistans_ChieJustice_Must_Be_Restored/8169/