JC urges amendment in money laundering law

The three-day International Judicial Conference concluded in Islamabad on Sunday and it has urged that Pakistani laws dealing with money laundering and terrorism should be brought in conformity with international standards.The conference urged that all the stakeholders should work together to uphold the principles of the Rule of Law in PakistanThe declaration read out by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry recognized that Pakistan requires an objective mechanism to measure its adherence to the rule of law.It declared that both the terrorism and money laundering constitute grave threat to civilized nations throughout the world.The declarations said that Pakistani laws dealing with these issues should be brought in conformity with international standards. It emphasized that Pakistan should seek to strengthen its bilateral legal assistance arrangements with various countries to ensure better coordination‚ information-sharing‚ timely and effective provision of support from the relevant law enforcement agencies.The declaration said that a Judicial Commission on Gender Equality and Judicial Empathy be established and a code of conduct on gender awareness subjects be included in the curriculum of law colleges.Earlier addressing the conference Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said rule of law is vital for the society. He said after restoration of judiciary entire focus shifted towards development of Judicial Policy and the benefits of the same have started emerging.He said Judiciary should maintain distance from administrative affairs and real task of judiciary is interpretation of the law and constitution.Referring to terrorism, the Chief Justice said that Pakistan suffered a lot and paid an heavy price in men and material while fighting against terrorism. He called for making effective laws to deal with global phenomenon of terrorism.The CJ said efforts should be coordinated among the democratic countries to flourish democratic values worldwide.