Constitution of federal commercial courts (FCCs) is nowhere in sight even one year after Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's announcement in his first address to the nation last year, sources told Business Recorder here on Friday.
They said that the government had set lofty objectives for FCCs to be set up in the Federal and four provincial capitals to exclusively hear the banking, customs, companies, taxation, drugs and other commercial cases lying in High Courts for several years.
The government had further claimed that these courts would promote Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) culture under which disputes are resolved through mediation, conciliation and arbitration with the involvement of persons who are not judicial officers.
The government had hoped that through the process of quick disposal of cases and resolution of disputes, the country would be able to attract more foreign investment.
Talking to Business Recorder, Minister for Law and Justice Wasi Zafar said that though some Bar associations had opposed the establishment of FCCs, the Ministry had not dropped the proposal.
He said that the government was trying to get the Law Reforms Bill 2005 passed by Parliament seeking amendments in about one hundred laws, criminal law procedures and penal codes for expeditious disposal of cases Wasi said that the bill was under consideration of National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice and it had approved amendments proposed in Sections 24, 89, 95 and 148 of CrPC 1908. These amendments pertain to procedures of trial of suits, Alternative Disputes Resolution, and compensation for arrest or attachment on insufficient grounds, he added.