Federal Sharia Court
The Federal Sharia Court ( Urdu وفاقی شرعی عدالت پاکستان, English Federal Shariat Court, FSC ) of Pakistan decides whether the laws of the country are in conformity with Islamic law . It also acts as an appellate court for Hadood crimes . It consists of eight Muslim judges who are appointed by the Pakistani President after deliberations with the Chief Justice, mostly former Supreme Court judges . Of the eight judges, three must be ulema (religious scholars). Appeals against decisions of the court go to the Sharia ruling bank of the Supreme Court .
Since its establishment in 1980 by the military dictator Zia ul-Haq , the Federal Sharia Court has been criticized internationally and is the subject of controversy in Pakistani society. It was established by the military regime as a measure of Islamization and immediately protected by the 8th Amendment to the Constitution; the opponents of the court question the rationale and usefulness of this court. The composition of the court, especially how the judges are appointed and the uncertainty of their terms of office, is unprecedented in the Pakistani legal system, which originates from the British colonial system. It is criticized that the Sharia court does not meet the criteria that are required for the independence of the judiciary. In addition, the court is not immune to pressure and influence from the executive branch . But there is also criticism from the Islamists, for whom the court sometimes does not go far enough. For example, in 1983 it ruled that women can be appointed judges.
In 1982, the court was empowered to also “suo motu”, ie ex officio, to review laws for compatibility with Sharia law. Of the 512 federal laws reviewed through 1986, 55 were objected to. The constitution, Muslim personal law, i.e. family law and inheritance law (only that of a specific school of law) and procedural law are excluded from the court's review competence.
Web links
- Homepage of the Federal Sharia Court of Pakistan
- Constitution of Pakistan , Articles 203A-203J
literature
- Wilhelm Wengler : State ordre public vis-à-vis church law and examination of state laws under religious law . A comparison of Italian and Pakistani law. In: Yearbook of Public Law of the Present . NF 36, 1987, ISSN 0075-2517 , pp. 67–89 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ansar Burney v. Federation of Pakistan ( Memento from July 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) , PLD 1983 FSC 73; confirmed by Mian Hammad Murtaza v. Federation of Pakistan , PLD 2011 FSC 117
- ↑ Wengler in JÖR 1987, p. 77 ( limited preview in the Google book search). More details on the court's homepage: Suo moto cases
- ↑ Allah Rakha v. Federation of Pakistan , PLD 2000 FSC 1 with reference to PLD 1994 SC 607