The Judicial Role of Basic Democracies in Pakistan
| Published date | 01 April 1966 |
| Author | Salma Omer |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1966.tb00261.x |
| Date | 01 April 1966 |
The Judicial Role of Basic
Democracies in Pakistan
By
SALMA
OMER
Mrs. Salma Orner was Technical Adviser on Basic Democracies in the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, Pakistan from 1961 to 1964.
THE
system of Basic Democracies comprises four tiers
of
local councils.
The
most important tier is the grassroot body known as the Union Council.
The
union council is an elected body, one representative being elected from a con-
stituency
of
1000
to
1500
people.
Ten
such members form a union council,
which thus represents apopulation
of
10,000
to
15,000
people and covers at
times five to seven villages and at times only two or three villages.
The
chair-
man is elected from among these members.
The
term of the council is five
years
but
the chairman can be removed by a two-thirds majority
if
he loses
the confidence of the members.
The
functions of the union council, are
(a) Developmental
(b) Municipal
(c) Judicial
(d) Constitutional
(e) Administrative
In
this paper we shall discuss the judicial functions only'.
The
judicial role
of
the union council becomes operative through two legal enactments,
(a)
The
Conciliation Courts Ordinance,
1961,
and
(b)
The
Muslim Family Laws Ordinance,
1961.
The
Conciliation
Courts
Ordinance,
1961
In the rural areas, before the promulgation of the Basic Democraries Order
1959,
judicial and executive roles were vested in one government official.
The
tehsildar at the tehsiland deputy commissioner/magistrate or sub divisional
officerat the district were vested with both magisterial functions and law and
order functions.
The
first court
of
access for the villagers in some cases was
that of the tehsildar and then
of
the deputy commissioner.
The
right
of
appeal
to the High Court and Supreme Court was provided.
Alongside this complex legal structure, complete with its ramification of
litigation, exorbitant expenses and false witnesses, there existed the prevalent
informal judiciary known as the panchayats. Before the advent
of
the British
regime these panchayats were organised bodies, representing village leader-
ship and other powerful interests, capable
of
pronouncing judgment when
1
For
the historical background see two Articles by
Mr.
Habib-ur-Rahman
and
Professor L. F. Rushbrook Williams entitled 'Basic Democracies as Institutions of
Local Government in Pakistan' in Journal of Local Administration Overseas, October,
1962. Both these Articles mentioned,
but
did not discuss, the arbitration power of
Union Councils in local disputes. us
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