The Federal High Court (FHC) would start functioning by the end of this month, caretaker Federal Law and Justice Minister Afzal Haider said here on Monday.
Talking to members of Supreme Court Press Association, Haider said the name of the Islamabad High Court had been changed to Federal High Court and its status would be that of the provincial high courts.
The minister said the FHC chief justice and judges would be directly appointed and in doing so, the federal government would give preference to the senior lawyers of Islamabad.
He dispelled the impression created by a group of lawyers that all cases relating to the federal government could only be filed in the Federal High Court, saying an aggrieved person could file an application in any of the five high courts depending on the place of his residence.
In reply to a question, Haider said all judges of the superior courts who were invited took oath under the Provisional Constitution Order, 2007 except four judges of the Lahore and Peshawar high courts, who refused to take fresh oath.
He said three judges, who did not take oath under the PCO, had ceased to be judges of their respective courts and the federal government had issued a notification to that effect.
"The vacant posts of judges in the Supreme Court and the high courts would be soon filled so there was not unusual backlog of cases in the court," he added. The minister said the issue of fresh oath by the judges under the 1973 Constitution after lifting the Emergency on December 15 was still under consideration of the government.
Haider, who had been an activist of human rights, said that 5,754 under detention lawyers and political workers had been released, while Chaudhry Aitezaz Ahsan, Ali Ahmad Kurd, and Tariq Mahmood shifted to their houses which were declared sub-jails. He said the prime objective of the caretaker government is to hold free and fair elections and strengthen democratic institutions.