Fifth International Conference on "Paradoxes and Anomalies in the 1973 Constitution: A Discourse"
The upcoming Fifth international conference organized by the Department of History in collaboration with Hanns Siedel Foundation Islamabad Office is a series of conferences on different aspects of 1973 Constitution. The papers presented in the previous three conferences have been published and the remaining one is in process. The Fifth International conference is continuation of the previous conferences and is meant to cap up the whole series by pointing out paradoxes and anomalies in the Constitution for correction and improvement.
A constitution is an important document which guarantees not only fundamental rights but also a smooth running of the system of governance, constitutional bodies and state institutions. Pakistan after its inception in August 1947 remained without a constitution for almost nine years during which it was governed under a provisional constitution. In 1956, the constituent Assembly of Pakistan gave the country its first constitution but it was abrogated only after two years when martial law was imposed in 1958. The 1962 Constitution of Pakistan also did not work satisfactorily and another martial was imposed in 1969.
In 1973 Pakistan got its third constitution which was almost unanimously adopted by the members of the National Assembly with a broad consensus among all the political parties and their leaders. However, no man made law can be perfect. Therefore, amendments were made in it several times for improvement or for other reasons and for political expediencies. Even the amendments were either repealed or further amended and the process has not yet ended.
Although, it is undoubtedly the best of all constitutional arrangements Pakistan has had since its inception but some quarters of constitutional experts, lawyers and academicians have raised concerns about paradoxes and anomalies in several parts and many clauses of the Constitution concerning the parliamentary character of the constitution, fundamental rights and Islamic provisions, minority rights in theory and practice, unconstitutional and undemocratic actions and decisions of military dictators protected in constitution, grey areas in power exercised by the judiciary, extent of provincial autonomy, existence of parallel institutions and overlapping in the functions and responsibilities issue related to the Objective Resolution and its bearing on the constitution and the possible misuse of clauses like Article 62 and 63.
Nevertheless, many issues have been addressed and settled satisfactorily by the Eighteen Amendments in the constitution but many clauses and articles dealing with the grey areas mentioned above still need to be critically evaluated and refined.
The Fifth International Conference scheduled to be held on 09-10 December - 2019 is intend to generate a debate on the niceties of different articles of 1973 Constitution which clash with each other or look plausible but are inherently contradictory with the real spirit of the constitution Without having a thorough debate on the above mentioned areas, good governance and stable democracy would be a distant dream.
It is against this backdrop, that the Department of History, University of Peshawar in Collaboration with Hanns Seidel Foundation (Islamabad Office), has organized four conferences on different aspects of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan from 2015. The Fifth International Conference scheduled to be held 09-10 December, 2019 is intend to generate a debate on the niceties of different articles of 1973 Constitution which clash with each other or look plausible but are inherently contradictory with the real spirit of the constitution Without having a thorough debate on the above mentioned areas, good governance and stable democracy would be a distant dream.
The conference has invited papers previously, for the following sub-themes:
- Human Rights and 1973 Constitution
- Fundamental Rights and Islamic provisions
- Equal rights and protection for minorities
- Provincial Autonomy, theory and practice
- Evaluation of 18th Amendment
- Objectives Resolution
- Debate on articles 62 and 63
- Ex-FATA merger: challenges and prospects
- Constitution protecting unconstitutional acts
- Parliamentary or quasi Parliamentary
- Parliamentary system, Supreme Court and the Constitution
Dr.Syed Waqar Ali Shah
Waqar_ali@uop.edu.pk
Cell# 0321-9138436
Phone: 091-9216745
Conference Coordinator