Presidential Immunity

[Shamraz_Khan]

Re: Presidential Immunity

@yazdi

Faroog Naseem, one of the most brilliant lawyer of Pakistan, thinks the very idea of Presidential immunity is against the constitution of Pakistan. His argument is that no law can be legislated in by the parliament of Pakistan against the principles of Islam. The very basis of Islamic judicial system is based on legal equality for all and does not give any immunity to the rulers of the country..

Actually, the concept of immunity comes from English Common Law where kings/queens or person/persons acting on their behalf had immunity. Pakistan, like most of the world, operates under a written constitution, and not under Islamic Laws; therefore, this concept applies to to head of the state/govt.

Also, there is reason for giving immunity to heads of govt/state b/c often times they have to make life or death decisions that average person does not have to deal with & they must have immunity to act w/o fear of prosecution. Additionally, head of state/govt represent co-equal branch of govt which makes executive decisions, and just like judges and members of parliament (in many countries) are immune from prosecution (they make laws why wouldn’t they protect themselves?), presidents/pms have blanket immunity from prosecution. Only exception to this rule is treason, a specific type of crime listed/defined by the constitution, and its punishment is usually prescribed, too, in the constitution.