ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court has made public its Practice and Procedure Rules, setting out procedures for contempt proceedings and review petitions.
Under the new rules, the court can initiate contempt proceedings on its own. In addition, any person can apply to the court for contempt proceedings.
Rules Set Conditions for Review Petitions
The rules also set conditions for filing review petitions.
A lawyer may face disciplinary action for filing a frivolous or mala fide review petition. Furthermore, the applicant must deposit Rs50,000 as security before filing the review petition.
The court may forfeit this amount if it dismisses the petition or finds it baseless. The rules also allow the court to impose costs on lawyers and parties who file frivolous or mala fide petitions.
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Review to Go Before Original Bench
Meanwhile, the rules state that a review petition should, as far as possible, go before the same bench that issued the original judgment or order.
If a judge from the original bench is unavailable, the available judges from that bench will hear the review petition.
Moreover, the rules do not allow a second review petition against an order passed on a review petition. The court registry will also not accept such a subsequent review petition.
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The Federal Constitutional Court’s rules cover several other areas of court procedure, including appeals, adjournments, oral arguments, bench formation and other legal matters.
