Karachi
May 6, 2021
Commenting on the federal governmentâs Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance 2020 and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2020, the Womenâs Action Forum (WAF) and the Women Lawyersâ Association (WLA) have expressed their opposition to legislation via ordinances, and highlighted how the two ordinances contain several overlaps with amendments already enacted in 2016 by the parliament, and other existing laws.
In a detailed position paper released on Wednesday, the leading women's rights bodies said the two ordinances severely undermined democracy, the legislatures (federal and provincial), and provincial autonomy/18th Constitutional Amendment.
In the position papers, WAF and WLA highlighted 18 major flaws within the ordinances. âThey include the ambiguous language and unclear conceptual framing of the ordinances; the content overlap between the ordinances and already existing laws, and duplication of existing laws in the ordinances,â the paper said.