Government opposes bill seeking placement of all agreements before parliament

The government Thursday opposed a bill which sought placement of all agreements, treaties, contracts and trade protocols signed by the government with the foreign countries before the Parliament.
While briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem said that he opposed "The Ratification of Foreign Agreements by Parliament Bill, 2018," moved by former Chairman Senate and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani, on the grounds that it is against the spirit of the sub-section 3 of the Article 173 of the Constitution that permits executive to sign contracts and agreements.
The meeting met here with Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi in the chair. Naseem said that the bill can only be passed following the amendment in the Constitution. "If it is passed, it can be challenged in the court with the spirit of sub-section 3 of the Article 173 of the Constitution," he added.
Naseem said that in Pakistan, the Parliament frames laws and the executive executes them. "If we pass such a law, it will hit separation of power," he said, adding that this law will encroach upon the scheme of separation of power. "If you make a law for controlling contracts then it will encroach upon freedom of contracts," he noted.
The minister said that bringing contracts to the Parliament will limit the freedom of such contracts. He said that the Constitution of Pakistan recognises the trichotomy of powers. The Parliament frames laws, executive executes and judiciary interprets them, he said, adding that the Bill is against the principle of trichotomy of powers as provided by the constitutional scheme.
He further said that the success of any government depends on how much better its executive works.
While briefing the committee about the Bill, Rabbani said the Parliament is unaware of the various economic and other foreign agreements signed by the government. Some of these agreements have serious consequences on economic, political and fundamental rights of citizens; therefore, it is essential that they should be subjected to a national debate and scrutiny through the Parliament, he added.
He said that in democracies, parliamentary ratification is an accepted norm which provides transparency and ensures supremacy of the Parliament. Over 16 different countries including Australia, Germany, France, the United States, France and Argentina get foreign agreements rectified from parliaments, he elaborated.
The former chairman Senate said that negotiations with International Monetary Fund (IMF) are continuing but the Parliament does not know what is transpiring between the government and the Fund.
Senator Farooq Hamid Naek said that this is a very serious matter; therefore, it should be discussed in detail. Power to execute or sign an agreement or a contract is the job of executive and not the job of the Parliament.
"The Parliament cannot make treaties or agreements but it can make laws regarding the implementation of laws," he said, adding that this is very important bill; therefore, it should be amended to focus on implementation of treaties.
Senator Rehman Malik said that he supports the bill, adding that the foreign agreements should be placed before the Parliament. The Parliament has tried a lot to debate China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) but failed, he said.
Senator Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar said that he does not support the bill and agrees to the stance of the government. He said that the Parliament is the mother of executive.
Sherry Rehman said that she supports the bill but it should be amended. The bill does not aim to impose clog on the executive.
Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that the Parliament and public should be taken into confidence with regard to all agreements, treaties, contracts and trade protocols signed by the government with the foreign countries by placing these before the Parliament. An agreement was made on drone attacks but it had not been placed before the Parliament, he added.
Senator Musadik Malik said that in a parliamentary democracy, there is always an overlap in the powers of executive and legislature.
The committee decided to discuss the bill further in the next meeting.
The committee also discussed "The Islamabad High Court Amendment Bill, 2019" seeking increase in strength of the IHC judges, from seven to 10 including the chief justice, to overcome the difficulties of litigants and ensure early disposal of the long pending cases.
The minister said that over time, the IHC has emerged as a court getting more and more cases and has evolved in different respects. He said that with more cases, the number of judges also needs to be increased to overcome the pendency of cases.
Farooq Naek said the existing positions of judges are not filled entirely and increase in the number will be of no use until all vacancies are also filled.
Senator Javed Abbasi remarked that there should also be a decision on "who can be appointed as a judge in the IHC?" The Islamabad High Court Bar Council and Islamabad High Court Bar Association supported the bill but called for making the number of judges 11 instead of 10 as well as making it mandatory that the judges be from Islamabad.
The committee members supported the increase in the number of judges but decided to keep the bill pending till the next meeting. The minister gave a commitment to the committee that the government will bring an amendment in the Islamabad High Court Act with regard to putting a bar on the appointment of judges from the areas other than Islamabad.
The committee in principle agreed to the amendment bill under discussion but asked the ministry to initiate the process for amendment in the High Court Act and bring the same in the next meeting.
The meeting was attended by senators including Dilawar Khan, Ayesha Raza Farooq, Nuzhat Sadiq, Mushahid Hussain, Dr Shehzad Wasim, Naseebullah Bazai, Ghous Bakhsh Niazi, Mushahid Ullah Khan and Syed Sabir Shah, and officials from the Ministry of Law and Justice.