| Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan | |
|---|---|
| Type | Working Underneath (Pakistan Bar Council) |
| Purpose/focus | Bar association |
| Headquarters | Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Region served | Pakistan |
| Official languages | English |
| President | Muhammad Yaseen Azad |
The Supreme Court Bar Association is a legal body comprising the supreme court lawyers in Pakistan. It is currently headed by Asma Jahangir. Ms. Jahangir has been a leading human rights activist and lawyer in South Asia. When she was 18 years old she was a petitioner in the Asma Jilani case which was a famous constitutional case upholding the rule of law in Pakistan at the time of a military dictatorship. Since then she has been actively participating in a struggle to end dictatorships and uphold the rule of law in Pakistan. She has defended underprivileged women, minorities and children. In the sphere of bonded labour she helped to set an important judicial precedent in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. She was both house arrested and imprisoned in 1984 when she participated in protests against the infamous Hadood Ordinances introduced by the military dictator Zia-ul-Haq. She also participated in the lawyers struggle for the rule of law and the restoration of an independent judiciary in 2007 after General Musharraf staged a coup on 3 November 2007 and forcibly removed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir was again arrested during this time. In October 2010 she won a hotly contested election for the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. She is currently heading this. She has also been appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial killings and arbitrary detentions in 1998 and then she served as the Special Rapoorteur on Freedom of Religion from 2004 to 2010. She has won numerous awards including the Magasaysay Award, the Four Freedom Award, the UNESCO Award, Sitar-e-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Imtiaz for her work and commitment to human rights and justice. Her office in Lahore, AGHS Law Associates, provides free legal aid to underprivileged women, people sentenced to death, bonded labourers and children. It is the largest legal aid cell in Pakistan.
This organization gained prominence on March 9, 2007 when Pervez Musharraf sacked the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Chaudhry. Then president, Munir A. Malik, called this a malafide act and started a country-wide campaign for the restoration of the Chief Justice[1] now known as the Lawyers' Movement in Pakistan. Since then the recent appointment of Ms. Asma Jahangir as the President has brought prestige to this institution and it has regained its importance as a watchdog for establishing the rule of law in Pakistan.