Islamabad; October 31, There is a need to come up with an effective legislation to tackle terrorism in the country, as the world has changed after 9/11 and our anti-terrorism laws are not in sync with the time. This was the dominant view on a Public Forum on �Anti-Terrorism Laws in Pakistan: the Quest to balance Civil Liberties and Addressing Terrorism�.

The Forum was chaired by Mr. Shahid Hamid, Former Governor Punjab and an eminent lawyer while Lord Carlile, the former Independent Reviewer of UK Counter-Terrorism Legislation, was the key speaker in the Forum.

Lord Carlile shared his experience of strengthening legislation to tackle counter-terrorism. He underlined that there has to be a powerful narrative that deals with the counter terrorism strategy. Lord Carlile said that the definition of terrorism in Pakistani laws is much wider than that in the UK and many other countries..

He said that it is to be recognized that Pakistan is the frontline state against terrorism and it has offered more sacrifices than any other country in the recent times. An effective way of tackling terrorism, he added, would be �shared solutions toward shared problems.� Lord Carlile said that it is an art to maintain an effective balance between civil liberties and effective counter-terrorism.

Probing as to why Pakistan has a low conviction rate compared to the UK where conviction rate is around 80 %, Lord Carlile said that the judiciary is the key to this effect. He said that not only do the judges have to be safe and secure, they also need to be properly paid. Moreover, the judges need to have certain specialization, disagreeing with the notion that all judges can deal with anti-terrorism cases. In the UK, he said, there is a Judicial Appointments Commission which ensures that all judges, starting off at the district level pass a written examination and undergo an interview. The competence of a judge includes absorbing diversity and comfort in dealing with others, leading to a considerable improvement in quality of judges.

Lord Carlile clarified that there is �absolutely no use of the best judge if the case is badly prepared and presented by the prosecution� To this end, he shared the process through which the evidence makes way from crime scene to forensic laboratory to the court in the UK.

Mr. Shahid Hamid, while explaining the legislation in Pakistan regarding Anti-Terrorism said that so far, there are two key legislative instruments that deal with terrorism. The first such law is the Anti-Terrorism Act which was originally passed in 1997; the law has since then been amended in 45%1 and 45%4. The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2010 was introduced in the Senate of Pakistan by the Federal Interior Minister on July 27, 2010 but has since been withdrawn with the intention of bringing an updated version to the Parliament. The second bill which curbs financial aspect of terrorism is the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010. The Act, he said, itself came in the backdrop of Pakistan�s commitment to the United Nation�s 1998 Resolution which asked for the states to come up with measures to control money laundering. The law requires reporting any suspicious transaction beyond Rs. 2.5 million.

Mr. Shahid Hamid also stated that the nature and extent of terrorism has become much more destructive since the law was first introduced. He said that unlike in the 1990s when a terrorist or his organization was identifiable, today, terrorists groups appear on the horizon after a �suicide bomb� occurs. Moreover, whereas in the past, the terrorist groups had some popular support on which they had to rely, today, these groups don�t even care for popular support. He also later said that the present-day terrorists detonate explosives instead of using just firearms, as mostly happened in the past. These groups, he said, espouse an �ideological� agenda with some having �territorial ambitions.�

Despite these laws, he lamented, the conviction rate in the country is low. He said according to a report, there were less than 700 cases of money laundering reported, out of which only four (4) were prosecuted and none convicted. Mr. Shahid Hamid that during the same time frame, none has being convicted in India and only one has been convicted in Bangladesh.

He further said that the definition of terrorism is so wide in Pakistani law that if somebody throws a brickbat at the police, he or she can be put on trial on the charge of terrorism.

Mr. Hamid recommended that the number of days for detention as provided in the law need to be reviewed as 15 days may be too short a duration whereas 90 days may be too long. He said that the nstitutions that train suicide bombers need to be investigated and brought within the scope of the law. Likewise, the law needs to deal with the violence caused by explosives, which were not much of an issue in 1997.

Mr. Shahid Hamid shared his views on the �Investigation into Fair Trial Bill� which is currently before the National assembly Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. He said that the bill proposes to make digital information admissible evidence even prior to the lodging of the FIR. He recommended that it would be better to reconsider the clause that gives the sole exception from phone-tepping and messages interception to parliamentarians.

Parliamentarians, Academia, civil society and media participated in large numbers in the Forum.

Earlier, Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director of PILDAT, said that are no two opinions that Pakistan is faced with a gigantic challenge of continued and increased acts of terrorism in almost all parts of the country. He said that whereas the current 13th National Assembly and the Senate have a healthy record of legislation at least in a relative sense, the two areas where the Parliament has not been able to successfully legislate are Accountability and Counter-terrorism. He underscored the need for an early passage of an effective Anti-terrorism legislation.

PILDAT has also released the Legislative Brief on �Investigation for Fair Trial Bill, 2012� on the occasion.