Pakistan, who sent a representative from its attorney general’s office to last year’s international innocence conference in Cincinnati, is considering the creating of an innocence commission with full subpoena and investigative powers.
From The Nation:
ISLAMABAD – MQM Wednesday submitted a bill in the National Assembly and Senate secretariats seeking establishment of a mechanism to investigate credible claims of innocence made by a convict and offer redress in case of any miscarriage of justice. On the face of it, this bill of Muttahida Quami Movement aims at adoption of extraordinary procedures to determine credible claims of factual innocence of a convict who has been handed down death sentence or life imprisonment; constitute an inquiry commission for the purpose; and empower the Supreme Court to review cases of such convictions for the purpose of remedying the miscarriage of justice if any. But some legal experts have raised suspicions that through this bill the government and its allied party MQM might want to achieve a certain objective. The timing of this bill is very critical, they say, as just a day ago (Tuesday) the Supreme Court of Pakistan has announced the detailed judgment convicting the prime minister for flouting the court orders. The conviction is set to formally disqualify Yousuf Raza Gilani as member of the parliament, which would automatically cost him his premiership as well, but the PPP and allied parties are interpreting the court decision in a different way.
In national assembly the bill was submitted by MNA Iqbal Qadri, MNA Muhammad Ali and MNA Abdul Qadir Khanzada, while M S Nasreen Jalil, Col (r) Tahir Mushadi and Fourgh Naseem submitted the bill in the Senate. The title of the bill is ‘Review of Innocence Claims Act 2012‘, and it would extend to the whole of Pakistan. It shall come into effect on such date as the federal government may, by notification in the official Gazette, specify. The preamble of the bill says: “Whereas, right to life and liberty, right to freedom of movement and right to fair trial and due process are declared fundamental rights, and equality before law and equal protection of law are guaranteed to every citizen; And whereas, conviction of a person who claims factual innocence may involve infringement of his rights; And whereas, it is expedient to make provisions to deal with claims of innocence in certain cases of conviction and to remedy the possible miscarriage of justice and for ancillary matters. The claim of factual innocence in the bill has been defined as “A claim on behalf of a living person convicted of death sentence or life imprisonment, asserting complete innocence of any criminal responsibility for the crime for which the person was convicted and for any other reduced level of criminal responsibility relating to the crime, and for which there is some credible, verifiable evidence of innocence that has not previously been presented at trial or considered at a hearing granted through post-conviction relief.” The wrongful conviction has been defined as: “A final order of conviction against which the convict has a claim of factual innocence.”The Act will override other laws. The bill proposed to constitute a commission under this act comprising the chairperson, who shall be a judge of the Supreme Court, three retired judges of the Supreme Court or the High Court, two senior advocates of apex court, one expert on criminal prosecution and attorney general for Pakistan. The Chief Justice of Pakistan shall appoint the commission’s chairperson and the members.Powers and duties of the commission include establishing the criteria and screening process to be used to determine which cases shall be accepted for review and conducting inquiries into claims of factual innocence, with priority to be given to those cases in which the convicted person is currently incarcerated solely for the crime for which he or she claims factual innocence. “For purposes of conducting an inquiry into a claim of factual innocence, the commission shall have all the necessary powers of a criminal court of original jurisdiction under the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898.””The commission may compel the testimony of any witness and if a witness asserts any privilege against self-incrimination in a proceeding under this act, the chairperson, in judicial capacity, may order the witness to testify or produce other information if the chairperson first determines that the testimony of the witness is likely be material to reach a correct factual determination in the case under inquiry.” During the course of a formal inquiry by the commission, the convicted person shall be deemed to be currently under trial for the charge for which the convicted person claims factual innocence. All decisions of the commission and of the bench shall be final and shall not be subject to further review in any manner whatsoever. A claim of factual innocence asserted through the commission shall not adversely affect the right of the convicted person to any other post-conviction relief under the law. The Supreme Court of Pakistan may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act.
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