Islamabad(The COW News Digital) The Federal Constitutional Court has issued its 126-page rules, setting out procedures for contempt of court, review petitions, death penalty cases, adjournments, Article 63A appeals, oral arguments, bench formation and matters concerning advocates.
According to the rules, the court will have the authority to take suo motu action in contempt of court cases. Proceedings may also be initiated on an application submitted by any individual.
The rules also establish procedures for review petitions. A review petition should, as far as possible, be heard by the same bench that delivered the original judgment or order. If one or more judges from the original bench are unavailable, the review may be heard by a bench comprising one or more available members of that bench.
A further review petition against an order passed on a review application will not be maintainable and will not be accepted by the court registry.
The rules provide financial consequences for frivolous or mala fide review petitions. A minimum cost of Rs25,000 may be imposed, while the applicant may also be required to deposit Rs50,000 as security before the review petition is heard. The security may be forfeited if the petition is dismissed or found to be without merit.
A significant provision concerns cases involving the death penalty. When a review petition is filed against a death sentence, the registrar will immediately inform the relevant government. Execution of the sentence will automatically remain suspended until the review petition is decided, without requiring a separate order from the court.
However, this automatic suspension will not apply where all available legal proceedings, including appeals, review petitions and mercy petitions, have already been completed.
The rules also empower the Federal Constitutional Court to call for the record of a case pending before another court when an important question relating to constitutional interpretation arises. After receiving the record and hearing the parties, the court may issue appropriate directions and return the record to the concerned court.
Specific procedures have also been established for habeas corpus petitions. Such petitions will be filed before the registry or a branch registry and must generally include an affidavit from the detained person. If the detainee is unable to provide an affidavit because of the detention, another person familiar with the facts may submit an affidavit explaining the circumstances.
Habeas corpus petitions under Article 175E(3) are required to be fixed for hearing within seven days. No court fee will be charged for such petitions or criminal proceedings under the relevant constitutional provision.
The rules further state that applications for permission to appeal in criminal matters must generally be filed within 60 days of a judgment or final order. Adjournments are described as an exception rather than a right, with requests aimed merely at delay potentially being rejected.
Under Article 63A, appeals against decisions of the Election Commission may be filed before the Federal Constitutional Court within 30 days. The rules provide that such appeals should be decided within 90 days of filing, subject to the applicability provisions concerning the relevant constitutional amendment.
The rules also regulate oral arguments. Generally, each party will have 10 minutes to present arguments, while cases involving important questions of law may allow up to 30 minutes. Lawyers will not be permitted to exceed the prescribed time without prior permission from the court.
Every case, petition or appeal will ordinarily be heard by a bench comprising at least two judges. Larger benches may be constituted by the chief justice where a matter involves significant importance, complexity or public interest.
The rules additionally establish separate rolls for senior advocates, advocates and advocates-on-record. Lawyers must meet prescribed professional and enrollment requirements, while professional misconduct or improper conduct may result in removal from the relevant roll.
An advocate seeking enrollment under the specified category must have at least seven years of experience as a High Court advocate. The rules also set a Rs100,000 enrollment fee for senior advocates.
Overall, the newly issued rules establish detailed procedures for the Federal Constitutional Court’s functioning, covering constitutional interpretation, litigation, appeals, reviews, contempt proceedings, detention cases, advocacy and case management.
