The Redundant Laws: 18th Amendment Aftershocks

Zulqarnain Ali Raja Blawgs, Commentary

The Redundant Laws: 18th Amendment Aftershocks

The Eighteenth Amendment was unanimously passed by the Parliament and notified in the Official Gazette on 20th April, 2010. The Amendment introduced changes to about 36 percent of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan. 102 out of the 280 Articles of the Constitution were amended, inserted, added, substituted or deleted. It included 95 amendments to the Constitution. It devoted more autonomy to the provinces; shifting the structural contours of the state from a heavily centralized to a predominantly decentralized federation. The 18th Amendment curtailed the powers of the President to dissolve the parliament unilaterally; turning Pakistan from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary republic. It also included the renaming of the North-West Frontier Province to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

LIST OF SUBSTITUTED ARTICLES:

1) Article 17 of the Constitution.
2) Article 46 of the Constitution.
3) Article 51 of the Constitution.
4) Article 58 of the Constitution.
5) Article 59 of the Constitution.
6) Article 62 of the Constitution.
7) Article 63 of the Constitution.
8) Article 63A of the Constitution.
9) Article 90 of the Constitution.
10) Article 91 of the Constitution.
11) Article 104 of the Constitution.
12) Article 129 of the Constitution.
13) Article 130 of the Constitution.
14) Article 131 of the Constitution.
15) Article 143 of the Constitution.
16) Article 156 of the Constitution.
17) Article 243 of the Constitution.

LIST OF AMENDED ARTICLES:

1) Article 1 of the Constitution.
2) Article 6 of the Constitution.
3) Article 25 of the Constitution.
4) Article 27 of the Constitution.
5) Article 29 of the Constitution.
6) Article 38 of the Constitution.
7) Article 41 of the Constitution.
8) Article 48 of the Constitution.
9) Article 61 of the Constitution.
10) Article 73 of the Constitution.
11) Article 75 of the Constitution.
12) Article 89 of the Constitution.
13) Article 92 of the Constitution.
14) Article 99 of the Constitution.
15) Article 100 of the Constitution.
16) Article 101 of the Constitution.
17) Article 116 of the Constitution
18) Article 122 of the Constitution.
19) Article 127 of the Constitution.
20) Article 128 of the Constitution.
21) Article 132 of the Constitution
22) Article 139 of the Constitution.
23) Article 140 of the Constitution.
24) Article 142 of the Constitution.
25) Article 144 of the Constitution.
26) Article 147 of the Constitution.
27) Article 149 of the Constitution.
28) Article 153 of the Constitution.
29) Article 154 of the Constitution.
30) Article 155 of the Constitution.
31) Article 157 of the Constitution.
32) Article 160 of the Constitution.
33) Article 161 of the Constitution.
34) Article 167 of the Constitution.
35) Article 168 of the Constitution.
36) Article 170 of the Constitution.
37) Article 171 of the Constitution.
38) Article 172 of the Constitution.
39) Article 175 of the Constitution.
40) Article 177 of the Constitution.
41) Article 193 of the Constitution.
42) Article 194 of the Constitution.
43) Article 198 of the Constitution.
44) Article 199 of the Constitution.
45) Article 200 of the Constitution.
46) Article 203C of the Constitution.
47) Article 203D of the Constitution.
48) Article 209 of the Constitution.
49) Article 213 of the Constitution.
50) Article 215 of the Constitution.
51) Article 216 of the Constitution.
52) Article 218 of the Constitution.
53) Article 219 of the Constitution.
54) Article 221 of the Constitution.
55) Article 224 of the Constitution.
56) Article 226 of the Constitution.
57) Article 228 of the Constitution.
58) Article 232 of the Constitution.
59) Article 233 of the Constitution.
60) Article 234 of the Constitution.
61) Article 242 of the Constitution.
62) Article 246 of the Constitution.
63) Article 260 of the Constitution.
64) Article 268 of the Constitution.
65) Article 270A of the Constitution.
66) Article 270B of the Constitution.
67) Amendment of the Annex to the Constitution.
68) Amendment of the third schedule.
69) Amendment of the fourth schedule.

OMITTED ARTICLES:

1) Article 71 of the Constitution.
2) Omission of the Sixth and Seventh Schedule.

ARTICLE 58(2b)

The infamous Article 58(2b), allowed the President to dissolve the Parliament. It was first inserted into the Constitution by General Zia ul Haq, it was then re-enacted by General Parvez Musharraf. The Article has been removed from the Constitution and substituted with ‘Dissolution of National Assembly’. The President may dissolve the National Assembly where vote of no-confidence has been passed against the Prime Minister. However, the power provided by Article 58(2b) to the President, to unilaterally dissolve the National Assembly no longer exists.

8TH AND 17TH AMENDMENT:

In particular, the 18th Amendment has undone the impacts of the 8th Amendment (enacted by General Zia ul Haq) and the 17th Amendment (enacted by the General Pervez Musharraf).  The 8th Amendment had altered over 90 Articles of the Constitution and the 17th Amendment had altered 26 Articles of the Constitution. Many past amendments added by the military rulers were removed.

PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION ORDER (PCO) AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK ORDER (LFO):

The Proclamation of Emergency on the fourteenth day of October, 1999, the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) No 1, the Oath of Office Order 2000, Chief Executive Order No 19 of 2002, the amendments made in the Constitution through Legal Framework Order 2002, Chief Executive Order No 24, the LFO (Amendment Order), Chief Executive Order No 29 of 2002 are pronounced to have no legal effect and thus no longer sustain legality.

ELIMINATION OF CONCURRENT LIST:

The 18th Amendment abolished the Concurrent List provided in the Schedule IV of the Constitution. Laws governing marriage, contracts, firearms possessions, labor, education, environmental pollution, bankruptcy and 40 other diverse areas now fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces.

ARTICLE 71:

Article 71 contained provisions for the Mediation Committee for consideration of a bill rejected by the House. This Article was abolished from the Constitution as well.

SIZE OF SENATE:

The size of the senate is restricted to 100 instead of 104 and the working days have been increased to 110.

ARTICLE 268(2):

The 18th Amendment omitted Clause 2 of Article 268 of the Constitution which provided, the laws specified in the Sixth Schedule shall not be altered or repealed expressly or impliedly without the previous sanction of the President accorded after consultation with the Prime Minister.

ARTICLE 200:

In clause 1 of Article 200 of the Constitution, the proviso and clause 4 has been omitted by the 18th Amendment.

ARTICLE 149:

Clause 2 of Article 149 of the Constitution was abolished by the 18th Amendment. Clause 2 provided that the executive authority of the federation shall also extend to the giving of directions to a province as to the carrying into execution therein of any federal law which relates to a matter specified in the Concurrent Legislative List. Since the Concurrent list has been abolished by the 18th Amendment the provision discussed above becomes redundant.

ARTICLE 157:

The 18th Amendment added the word consultancy in Article 157 of the Constitution. Accordingly, the federal government prior to taking the decision to construe or cause to be construed hydroelectric power stations in any province shall consult the provincial government concerned. Whereas before this addition, the federal government could in any province construct the hydroelectric installation.

OMISSION OF THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH SCHEDULE IN THE CONSTITUTION:

The 18th Amendment omitted the Sixth and Seventh Schedule in the Constitution

ABOLITION OF FEDERAL MINISTRIES:

With the 18th Amendment, almost all direct public services become a provincial responsibility. As a consequence, 17 central government ministries have been devolved to the provinces. Some of the retained functions of the abolished ministries have been reassigned to the remaining ministries. For example, the People’s Works Program has been assigned to the Cabinet Division.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. pakistancode.gov.pk
  2. cssforum.com.pk
  3. Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973
  4. Criminal Procedure Code, 1898
  5. Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order, 1984
  6. legaladvice.com.pk
  7. Muslim Family Law Ordinance, 1961
  8. Qisas & Diyyat Ordinance, 1990
  9. Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939
  10. Family Courts Act, 1964
  11. The Army Act, 1952
  12. pcsw.punjab.gov.pk
  13. pakistani_lawforum.blogspot.com
  14. muslimarealm.blogspot.com
  15. Pakistan Penal Code, 1860
  16. legalera.in
  17. pk.undp.org

 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of CourtingTheLaw.com or any other organization with which he might be associated.

Zulqarnain Ali Raja

Author: Zulqarnain Ali Raja

The writer holds a B.A. LLB (hons) degree and is a Shariah & Law Scholar at the International Islamic University Islamabad. He is also the Chairperson of the Law Students Council, Pakistan.