Federal Law and Justice Minister Wasi Zafar released the other day the draft bill that will establish federal commercial courts. These courts are intended to expedite action on commercial and financial disputes. They will have original as well as appellate jurisdiction. Inter-court appeals will be allowed, with appeal to the Supreme Court only where leave is granted by the apex court. The minister was at pains to allay the apprehensions expressed by some lawyers that the courts might become a parallel judiciary.
The federal commercial courts would be separate from the high courts, the minister explained, but would function under the supervisory and administrative control of the Supreme Court. The bill envisages setting up 28 such courts, with the principal seat at Islamabad and benches in the provincial headquarters. The strength of these courts would be decided by the President in consultation with the Prime Minister.
The chief judge and judges of the federal commercial courts would be appointed by the President from a panel put forward by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and other professional bodies, including public organisations. In addition to speeding up the resolution of commercial and financial disputes, these courts would reduce the workload of the high courts by 30 percent, thereby benefiting litigants.
Persons eligible to be appointed as judge of high court, former judges of the superior judiciary, including tribunals or courts set up under a federal law and possessing experience in the relevant fields, or having served in BPS-21 or above in a public organisation and having not less than 15 years' experience in commercial, economic or financial matters would be fit for appointment as judges in the federal commercial courts.
They will retire at the age of 68 years and have the status, perks and privileges equal to those of a judge of a high court.
The federal commercial courts will have exclusive original jurisdiction specified in Schedule I of the bill, and appellate jurisdiction as provided in Schedule II. On the original side will be included cases falling under the Companies Ordinance 1984, the Chartered Accountants Ordinance 1961, the Insurance Ordinance 2000, the Privatisation Commission Ordinance 2000, the Non-performing Assets and Rehabilitation of Industrial Undertakings Legal Proceedings Ordinance 2000, and the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) Ordinance 2001, etc.
Regarding appellate jurisdiction, the scope of the federal commercial courts would cover a number of federal statutes, including the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, the Copyright Ordinance, the Customs Act, the Drug Act, the Emigration Ordinance, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Ordinance, and the Industrial Relations Ordinance.
The need for such commercial courts has been felt for some time since civil and commercial disputes take inordinately long to come to resolution. This acts as a disincentive for litigants as also prospective investors.
Since these commercial courts are to be set up at the federal level, it is to be hoped that appointments to these courts would be entirely on merit, with the added qualification, apart from mastery of commercial, economic and financial matters, that such appointees must possess expertise in matters of contract law and tort.
Also, the practice currently in vogue of quotas for appointments to the superior judiciary, drawn from the provincial or district levels judiciary would be eschewed in favour of those only who deserve such elevation.
Only then would the new experiment of federal commercial courts enjoy prestige and credibility and hopefully improve the climate for dispute resolution in such matters, an improvement that can only act as a boost to the confidence of both domestic and foreign investors.