Dave's Landslide Blog: The latest NASA image of Attabad

Dave's Landslide Blog: The latest NASA image of Attabad

PLURALISM - THE PATH AHEAD

Lecture by His Highness the Aga Khan: The LaFontaine-Baldwin Lecture (Toronto, Canada)

15 October 2010

Please also see: Photographs, Introduction by The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Welcome Address by John Ralston Saul and Complete recorded event

Bismillah-hir-Rahmanir-Rahim,

The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson
Mr. John Ralston Saul
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Mesdames et Messieurs

Lorsque j’ai été invité à donner la conférence de ce symposium LaFontaine-Baldwin, ce fut pour moi un grand honneur et j’ai éprouvé beaucoup d’émotion. Je dois dire, chère Madame Clarkson que j’ai encore plus d’émotion depuis que vous avez fait tous ces commentaires si flatteurs pour moi. C’est également un grand plaisir de se retrouver parmi de si nombreux amis tant anciens que nouveaux, ici à Toronto et je suis particulièrement heureux d’avoir été présenté, comme je viens de le dire, si chaleureusement ce soir par mes bons amis John Ralston Saul et Adrienne Clarkson. Je me sens profondément reconnaissant de cette très aimable invitation et de votre généreux accueil.

When I first received this invitation, I was deeply honoured. But I was also, perhaps, a little intimidated.

I was impressed by the lecture’s prestigious history, the contributions of nine former lecturers, and the lecture’s focus on Canada’s civic culture.

As you may know, my close ties with Canada go back almost four decades, to the time when many thousands of Asian refugees from Uganda, including many Ismailis, were welcomed so generously in this society. These ties have continued through the cooperation of our Aga Khan Development Network with several Canadian institutions, including the establishment, four years ago, of the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa. I had the opportunity last week to chair a highly productive meeting there of the Centre’s Board of Directors.

Earlier this year, we also celebrated here in Toronto the Foundation Ceremony for the Aga Khan Museum and a new Ismaili Centre. So there are powerful chords of memory – from four decades ago, four years ago, and even four months ago, that tie me closely to Canada.

I was also deeply moved by Canada’s extraordinary gift to me of honorary citizenship.

I always have felt at home when I come to Canada – but never more so than in the wake of this honour. And if I ever felt any trepidation about accepting this evening’s invitation, it has been significantly reduced by the fact that I can now claim – however modestly – to be a Canadian!

Many thanks go to all of you who are attending this lecture – or are watching and listening from elsewhere. It is a busy autumn night, I know.

For one thing, I believe the undefeated Maple Leafs are playing on television at this very hour!

My Canadian friends like to tell me about a time when the Stanley Cup playoffs were in full swing, and a gentleman took his seat in the front row of the stadium – leaving a seat open next to him. His neighbour asked why such an excellent seat for such an important event was unclaimed, and the man explained that his wife normally sat there but that she had passed away. The neighbour expressed his sympathies, but asked whether a member of the family, or another relative or friend might have been able to use the ticket. “No”, the man replied, “they’re all at the funeral.”

The subject of tonight’s Lecture, Pluralism, may not have quite the emotional hold of the Stanley Cup, but, for me, it has been a matter of immense importance.

One reason, no doubt, is that the Ismaili people have long shared in the experience of smaller groups everywhere – living in larger societies. In addition, my lifelong interest in development has focused my attention on the challenge of social diversity. My interest in launching the Global Centre for Pluralism reflected my sense that there was yet no institution dedicated to the question of diversity in our world, and that Canada’s national experience made it a natural home for this venture.

The Centre plans, of course, to engage expert researchers to help in its work. Those plans remind me of a “think-tank” executive who found himself floating aimlessly across the sky one day in a hot air balloon. (I suspect he was the chairman!). As he hovered above he called down to a man below, “Can you tell me where I am?” The man shouted back, giving him his longitude, latitude and altitude. “Thanks,” said the chairman, “that’s interesting, but you must be a professor!”

“Why do you say that?” asked the man below.

“Well,” the chairman responded, “you have given me a lot of precise information, which I’m sure is technically correct, but which is not of the faintest use to me.”

The man below replied, “And you must be an executive.”

“How did you know?” asked the balloonist.

“Well,” said the man, “you don’t know where you are – or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are on a lot of hot air. And you expect people beneath you to solve your problems!”

I trust that this story will not characterize the work of the Centre.

I would like to talk with you this evening about three things – first, the long history of pluralism in our world, secondly, the acute intensification of that challenge in our time, and third, the path ahead, how we can best respond to that challenge.

I. THE PAST: PLURALISM IN HISTORY
A. Early History
Let us look for a moment at pluralism in history. I would like to begin by observing that the challenge of pluralism is as old as human civilization. History is filled with instructive models of success and failure in coping with human diversity.

In looking at this history, I am going to do an unexpected thing for a graduate of Harvard University – and that is to quote from a professor at that “other” New England school, a place called Yale.

You may remember how President Kennedy, when he received an honorary degree from Yale, observed that he now had the best of both worlds – a Yale degree – and a Harvard education!

Perhaps I am trying to reap something of the same advantage tonight – mentioning my Harvard education, but quoting a Yale Professor. Amy Chua, of the Yale Law School, recently published a persuasive warning about the decline and fall of history’s dominant empires. Their downward spiral, she says, stemmed from their embrace of intolerant and exclusionist attitudes.

The earlier success of these so-called “hyper powers” reflected their pragmatic, inclusive policies, drawing on the talents of a wide array of peoples. She cites seven examples – from ancient Persia to the modern United States, from ancient Rome and the Tang Empire in China, to the Spanish, Dutch and British Empires. In each case, pluralism was a critical variable.

You may know how, in ancient times, the common view was that nature had separated humankind into distinctive peoples. Aristotle was among the first to reject such arbitrary distinctions, and to conceptualize the human race as a single whole. It is interesting to note that his young pupil, on whom he impressed this notion, turned out to be Alexander the Great – whose international empire was animated by this new intellectual outlook. And, similarly, the Roman Empire thrived initially by extending the concept of Roman citizenship to distant, highly disparate peoples.

But even as Europe fragmented after the fall of Rome, another success story emerged in Egypt. I have a special interest in this story; it concerns my ancestors, the Fatimid Caliphs, who founded the city of Cairo 1000 years ago. They were themselves Shia in an overwhelmingly dominant Sunni culture, and for nearly two centuries they led a strong pluralistic society, welcoming a variety of Islamic interpretations as well as people of Christian, Jewish and other backgrounds.

Similarly, on the Iberian Peninsula between the 8th and 16th centuries, Muslim, Christian and Jewish cultures interacted creatively in what was known as al-Andalus. Remarkably, it lasted for most of seven centuries – a longer period than the time that has since passed.

The fading of al-Andalus came as a new spirit of nationalism rose in Europe – propelled by what scholars have called a sense of “imagined community.” Where local and tribal loyalties once dominated, national identifications came to flourish.

As we know, these nationalist rivalries eventually exploded into world war. The post-war emergence of the European Union has been a response to that history, much as regional groupings from South East Asia, to Central Asia, from Latin America to Eastern Africa, have been testing the potential for pan-national cooperation.

B. Canada and Pluralism
This brings me to the story of Canada – shaped so fundamentally by two European cultures. This dual inheritance was an apparent weakness at one point, but it was transformed into an enormous strength, thanks to leaders like LaFontaine and Baldwin, as well as those who shaped the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, and so many others who contributed to a long, incremental process.

That process has been extended over time to include a broader array of peoples, the First Peoples, and the Inuit, and a host of new immigrant groups. I am impressed by the fact that some 44 percent of Canadians today are of neither French nor British descent. I am told, in fact, that a typical Canadian citizenship ceremony might now include people from two dozen different countries.

To be sure, the vision I am describing is sometimes questioned and still incomplete, as I know Canadians insist on acknowledging. But it is nonetheless an asset of enormous global value.

C. The Developing World
Let me turn to the less developed world, where the challenge of diversity is often the most difficult problem our Development Network faces.

This legacy was partly shaped by European influences. In the 19th century, for example, European economic competition was sometimes projected onto Middle Eastern divisions, including the Maronite alliance with France and the Druze alliance with Britain. Meanwhile, in Africa and elsewhere, Europe’s colonial policies often worked to accentuate division – both through the use of divide-and-rule-strategies, and through the imposition of arbitrary national boundaries, often ignoring tribal realities.

In my view, the West continues at times to mis-read such complexities – including the immense diversity within the Muslim world. Often, too, the West’s development assistance programs assume that diversity is primarily an urban phenomenon discounting the vast size and complexity of rural areas. Yet, it is in the countryside that ethnic divides can be most conflictual – as Rwanda and Afghanistan have demonstrated – and where effective development could help pre-empt explosion.

I remember a visit I made almost half a century ago – in 1973 – to Mindanao, the one part of the Philippine Islands that was never ruled by Spain. It is home to a significant Islamic minority, and I was struck even then by how religious distinctions were mirrored in economic disparities.

Since that time, in predictable ways, economic injustice and cultural suspicion have fuelled one another in Mindanao. The quandary is how to break the cycle, although the Philippine government is now addressing the situation. But when history allows such situations to fester, they become increasingly difficult to cure.

The co-dependent nature of economic deprivation and ethnic diversity is evident throughout most of Asia and Africa. And most of these countries are ill-prepared for such challenges. The legitimacy of pluralist values, which is part of the social psyche in countries like Canada or Portugal, where so many Ismailis now live, is often absent in the developing world.

I think particularly, now, of Africa. The largest country there, Nigeria, comprises some 250 ethnic groups, often in conflict. In this case, vast oil reserves – once a reason for hope – have become a source of division. One wonders what might happen in other such places, for example in Afghanistan, if its immense subsoil wealth should become an economic driver.

The lesson: economic advantage can sometimes ease social tensions, but social and cultural cleavage can undermine economic promise.

D. Central Asia
Let’s for a moment, look at the situation in Central Asia. Our Network’s activity there includes the University of Central Asia, founded ten years ago, with campuses now in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

You will recall the outbreak of inter-ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan last June – thousands died, hundreds of thousands were made homeless. And yet, this high mountain region had traditionally been a place of lively cultural interchange – going back to the time of the Silk Route, one of history’s first global connecting links.

The violence that raged between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities had tangled roots. The Kyrgyz, traditionally nomads, were forced in the last century to settle on Soviet collective farms – joined by new Russian settlers. Tensions mounted, especially with the more settled Uzbeks, and a harsh economy compounded the distress.

Kyrgyzstan – along with Tajikistan – is one of the two poorest countries to emerge from the Soviet Union. But economics alone do not account for its tragedies. Observers had long noted the absence of cross-cultural contact in Kyrgyzstan, the weakness of institutional life – both at the government level and at the level of civil society – and a failing educational system.

Another element in the equation was international indifference – indeed, almost total international ignorance about Central Asia.

The result was a society ready to explode at the touch of a tiny spark. How that spark was first struck has been much debated. But the fundamental questions concern the perilous preconditions for violence, and whether they might better have been identified – and addressed.

Meanwhile, a spirit of hope persists, even in this troubled setting. Shortly after the violence, a public referendum approved constitutional reforms which could open a new era of progress.

E. Other Developing World Examples
Let us look for a moment at other developing world examples. The referendum in Kyrgyzstan this summer was followed one month later by a similar referendum in Kenya. I spent a part of my childhood in Kenya and our Network is very active there. So we watched with great sadness as Kenya descended into tribal warfare following the disputed election of 2007. In Kenya’s case, the institutions of civil society took a lead role in addressing the crisis. One result was the public endorsement this past August of a new constitution – by a two to one ratio. Like the reforms in Kyrgyzstan, it includes a dramatic dispersion of national and presidential power.

We are reminded in such moments that hope can sometimes grow out of desolation. I think of other places in Africa, like Mozambique, which also found a path to greater stability after a long period of warfare.

I think, too, of Indonesia, which emerged from its colonial experience as a radically fragmented state – both ethnically and geographically. Its response included a nationally oriented educational system – teaching a shared national language. But we must be careful in drawing conclusions. Other attempts to foster a single language as a unifying resource – Urdu, for example, or Swahili, or Bangla, have sometimes worked to separate peoples from the main currents of global progress.

The question of language is very sensitive, as Canadians well know. And one of the central truths about pluralism is that what works in one setting may work differently in others.

Afghanistan is another case in point. In contrast with places where inflexible nationalism can be a problem, Afghanistan suffers from the opposite condition – an inability to imagine, let alone create, a broad sense of nationhood.

One of the prime lessons of history, ancient and recent, is that one size does not fit all.

II. THE PRESENT: INTENSIFICATION AND URGENCY
Let’s for the moment look at the present situation. Let me move to a second major topic, which is the present intensification of the pluralism challenge – and the sense of urgency that comes with it.
Clearly, the challenges posed by diversity are mounting. New technologies mean that people mix and mingle more than ever before. Massive human migrations are part of the story – two-thirds of recent population growth in the 30 largest OECD countries has resulted from highly diverse migrations. Meanwhile, communications technology means that even those who live on the other side of the world are as near to us as those who live on the other side of the street.

The variety of the world is not only more available, it is nearly inescapable. Human difference is more proximate – and more intense. What was once beyond our view is now at our side – and, indeed, to use the popular expression, it is “in our face.”

Almost everything now seems to “flow” globally – people and images, money and credit, goods and services, microbes and viruses, pollution and armaments, crime and terror. But let us remember, too, that constructive impulses can also flow more readily, as they do when international organizations join hands across dividing lines.

The challenge of diversity is now a global challenge – and how we address it will have global consequences.

Economic stress and new environmental fragilities have further intensified the difficulties, and so has the fading of the bi-polar political order. It was once said that the end of the Cold War meant “the end of history.” In fact, just the reverse was true. History resumed in earnest in the 1990’s – as old tribal passions resurfaced.

Meanwhile, the way we communicate with one another has been revolutionized. But more communication has not meant more cooperation. More information has also meant more mis-information – more superficial snapshots, more shards of stray information taken out of context. And it has also meant more willful dis-information – not only differences of opinion, but distortions of fact. A wide-open internet allows divisive information to travel as far and as fast as reliable information. There are virtually no barriers to entry – and anyone, responsible or irresponsible – can play the game.

New digital technologies mean more access, but they also mean less accountability.

The advent of the internet and the omnipresence of mobile telephony seem to promise so much! But so, once, did television and radio – and the telegraph before that – and, even earlier, the invention of the printing press. Yet each of these breakthroughs, while connecting so many, was also used to widen cultural gulfs.

Technologies, after all, are merely instruments – they can be used for good or ill. How we use them will depend – in every age and in every culture – not on what sits on our desktops, but on what is in our heads – and in our hearts.

It has never been easy for people to live together. I am not one who believes in some natural, human disposition to welcome the stranger. Wiping away superficial misunderstandings will not by itself allow a spontaneous spirit of accommodation to blossom.

As Adrienne Clarkson said at this lecture in 2007, we cannot count on the power of “love” to solve our problems – as important as that quality is. A part of our challenge, as she said, is learning to live and work with people we may not particularly like!

To do so will require concerted, deliberate efforts to build social institutions and cultural habits which take account of difference, which see diversity as an opportunity rather than a burden.

I have mentioned both social institutions and cultural habits – each dimension is critical. In a sense, one concerns the hardware and one concerns the software of the pluralism experience.

III. THE FUTURE; THE PATH AHEAD
This brings me to my third and final topic this evening, the path ahead – how we might better predict and prevent breakdowns, and encourage progress.

A. Institutional Concerns
On the institutional level, we can begin by looking at the structures of public governance.

Let me warn, first, against a naïve hope that simply advancing the concept of democracy will achieve our goals. Not so. The high count of failed democracies – including some 40 percent of the member states of the United Nations – should disabuse us of this notion.

Too often, democracy is understood to be only about elections – momentary majorities. But effective governance is much more than that. What happens before and after elections? How are choices framed and explained? How is decision-making shared so that leaders of different backgrounds can interactively govern, rather than small cliques who rule autocratically?

We must go beyond the simple word “democracy” if we are to build a framework for effective pluralism.

This will mean writing more effective constitutions – informed by more sophisticated understandings of comparative political systems. It will mean explaining those arrangements more adequately – and adjusting and amending them. It will mean separating and balancing powers, structuring multi-tiered – and often asymmetrical – systems of federalism, and defining rights and freedoms – as Canada has learned to do. I would also point here to the experience of the largest democracy, India, which defines specific constitutional rights for eight distinctive cultural groups, an approach which has been echoed in Malaysia. And we have seen how Kenya and Kyrgyzstan are moving now to decentralize power.

All of these institutional arrangements can help resolve political deadlock, build social coherence and avoid the dangers of “winner take all.” They can provide multiple levers of social influence, allowing individuals of every background to feel that they have a stake in society – that they can influence the forces that shape their lives.

How we define citizenship is a central factor in this story – but one that is newly in dispute. Even the well-established concept that citizenship belongs to everyone who is born on national soil has been questioned recently in parts of Europe and the United States – as attitudes to immigration intensify.

Independent judicial and educational systems are also essential to effective pluralism, and so are non-governmental agents of influence – the institutions of civil society. As we have seen, Kenya presents a positive case study in this regard, while civil society in Kyrgyzstan was largely marginalized during its crisis.

Independent news media are another key element. This is why our Network has been involved for fifty years in the media of East Africa, and why the Aga Khan University is planning to create there a new Graduate School of Media and Communications.

The value of independent media was summarized recently by a veteran Ghanaian journalist, Kwame Karikari, who wrote of the media’s "… remarkable contributions to peaceful and transparent elections in Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mali, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia; to post-conflict conditions … in Liberia, Mozambique and Sierra Leone; and to sustaining constitutional rule … in Guinea, Kenya and Nigeria."

Finally, let me emphasize that healthy institutions will tap the widest possible range of energies and insights. They will optimize each society’s meritocratic potential, so that opportunity will reward competence, from whomever and wherever it may come independent of birth or wealth or theology or physical power.

B. THE PUBLIC MINDSET
But institutional reforms will have lasting meaning only when there is a social mindset to sustain them.

There is a profound reciprocal relationship between institutional and cultural variables. How we think shapes our institutions. And then our institutions shape us.
How we see the past is an important part of this mindset.

A sense of historic identity can immensely enrich our lives. But we also know how myopic commitments to “identity” can turn poisonous when they are dominated by bad memories, steeped in grievance and resentment.

The marginalization of peoples can then become a malignant process, as people define themselves by what they are against. The question of “who am I?” is quickly transformed into “who is my enemy?”

Some would address this problem through a willful act of historical amnesia – but suppressing animosity can often produce future explosions.

In Kenya, national history is largely missing from the public schools. And, in the absence of shared history, divided communities feed on their own fragmented memories of inter-tribal wrongs.

On the other hand, the value of confronting memory lies in catharsis, an emotional healing process. As we know, the Truth and Reconciliation Process has helped South Africans address deep social divisions, as has Chile’s Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago.

As societies come to think in pluralistic ways, I believe they can learn another lesson from the Canadian experience, the importance of resisting both assimilation and homogenization – the subordination and dilution of minority cultures on the one hand, or an attempt to create some new, transcendent blend of identities, on the other.

What the Canadian experience suggests to me is that identity itself can be pluralistic. Honouring one’s own identity need not mean rejecting others. One can embrace an ethnic or religious heritage, while also sharing a sense of national or regional pride. To cite a timely example, I believe one can live creatively and purposefully as both a devoted Muslim and a committed European.

To affirm a particular identity is a fundamental human right, what some have called “the right to be heard.” But the right to be heard implies an obligation to listen – and, beyond that, a proactive obligation to observe and to learn.

Surely, one of the most important tests of moral leadership is whether our leaders are working to widen divisions – or to bridge them.

When we talk about diversity, we often use the metaphor of achieving social “harmony.” But perhaps we might also employ an additional musical comparison – a fitting image as we meet tonight in this distinguished musical setting. We might talk not just about the ideal of "harmony" – the sounding of a single chord – but also about “counterpoint.” In counterpoint, each voice follows a separate musical line, but always as part of a single work of art, with a sense both of independence and belonging.

Let me add one further thought. I believe that the challenge of pluralism is never completely met. Pluralism is a process and not a product. It is a mentality, a way of looking at a diverse and changing world. A pluralistic environment is a kaleidoscope that history shakes every day.

Responding to pluralism is an exercise in constant re-adaptation. Identities are not fixed in stone. What we imagine our communities to be must also evolve with the tides of history.

As we think about pluralism, we should be open to the fact that there may be a variety of “best practices,” a “diversity of diversities,” and a “pluralism of pluralisms.”

In sum, what we must seek and share is what I have called “a cosmopolitan ethic,” a readiness to accept the complexity of human society. It is an ethic which balances rights and duties. It is an ethic for all peoples.

It will not surprise you to have me say that such an ethic can grow with enormous power out of the spiritual dimensions of our lives. In acknowledging the immensity of The Divine, we will also come to acknowledge our human limitations, the incomplete nature of human understanding.

In that light, the amazing diversity of Creation itself can be seen as a great gift to us – not a cause for anxiety but a source of delight. Even the diversity of our religious interpretations can be greeted as something to share with one another – rather than something to fear.

In this spirit of humility and hospitality – the stranger will be welcomed and respected, rather than subdued – or ignored.

In the Holy Quran we read these words: “O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord who created you from a single soul …[and] joined your hearts in love, so that by His grace ye became brethren.”

As we strive for this ideal, we will recognize that “the other” is both “present” and “different.” And we will be able to appreciate this presence – and this difference – as gifts that can enrich our lives.

Let me conclude by emphasizing once again the urgency of this challenge. We are at a particularly complex moment in human history. The challenges of diversity are frightening for many people, in societies all around the world. But diversity also has the capacity to inspire.

The mission of the Global Centre for Pluralism is to look closely at all these challenges – and to think hard about them. This will be demanding work. But as we go forward, we hope we can discern more predictably and pre-empt more effectively those conditions which lead to conflict among peoples. And we also hope that we can advance those institutions and those mindsets which foster constructive engagement.

The world we seek is not a world where difference is erased, but where difference can be a powerful force for good, helping us to fashion a new sense of cooperation and coherence in our world, and to build together a better life for all.

Thank you very much.

© 2007 The Aga Khan Development Network. This is the only authorised Website of the Aga Khan Development Network. Unless specifically stated, extracts (other than photographs) may be reproduced without further permission, with due acknowledgment.

“Beyond the Clash of Civilizations”

“Beyond the Clash of Civilizations”
Address given as part of the “2020: Building the Future” Lecture Series
Azim Nanji
March 22, 2001
University of Waterloo, Canada
Extracted from the original address
Abstract

Introduced in the summer of 1993 and expanded in his 1996 book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (Simon & Schuster, 1996; Touchstone, 1998), Samuel Huntington attempted to forecast the nature of global relations in the post-Cold War world, arguing that conflict in the future would be cultural rather than ideological. Contextualising and revisiting the Huntington thesis one decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the increasing complexity of the “civilisation” is explored by extending beyond the boundaries of the nation-state. Civilisations can no longer be seen as monolithic, unidimensional or static entities that can be easily essentialised. Through dialogue, their diversity should instead be protected and promoted to better understand our shared contributions to humanity’s cultural heritage.
Introducing the Huntington Thesis

We are moving into an age when different civilisations will have to learn to live side—by—side in peaceful interchange, learning from each other, studying each other’s history, and ideals of art and of culture to mutually enrich each other’s lives. The alternative in this overcrowded little world is misunderstanding, tension, clash and catastrophe.

Lester Pearson

Former Prime Minister of Canada and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient (1957)

This quotation comes to us from the 1950s, forty years before Samuel Huntington wrote the book, Clash Of Civilizations (Simon & Schuster, 1996; Touchstone, 1998). It is important to understand Huntington’s thesis in the context of Lester Pearson’s statement. Huntington is a scholar of International Affairs and Foreign Policy. His goal was to understand the nature of the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the implications that it might have for international affairs. The Cold War had come to an end. The bipolarity that existed because of the long standoff, between the United States and the Soviet Union, had ended. This did not mean the conflict had come to an end or that the world would now be a more homogenous and peaceful place.

Huntingron’s analysis reflects another set of dichotomies and polarities that would govern the world, and the Clash of Civilizations is centred on these.

In discussing his notion of the Clash of Civilizations, Samuel Huntington talked about a cluster of civilisations, three of which were particularly important to him. One was, what he called, the Asian civilisational cluster in which he included China, Japan and East Asia. The second was the western cluster by which he meant North America and Western Europe. The third cluster that he refers to is the Islamic World. He used the notion of a ‘clash of civilisations’ to reflect the potential conflict at a globl level that might emerge after the collapse of the Soviet Union and which, in his view, should determine the foreign policy perspectives that should guide not only analysts but also, governments. Many objections have been raised to his thesis. Suffice it to say that events, incc he wrote, have given us much cause for thought. We have not had clashes between civilisations; rather we have had clashes between smaller groups within the larger context of these civilisations. One cannot dismiss his theory outright, but much of his analyses have significant implications. This presentation seeks to specifically address the role of Muslims in this new framework.

Recasting Civilisation, Revisiting the Role of Islam

There is today a very significant presence of Muslims in Europe. Several million live in France, Germany, Britain and the other countries of Western Europe, in the Russian Federation and the Balkans, in Eastern Europe in places ikc Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, etc. In Canada and the United States there are approximately six to seven million Muslims.

We cannot any longer have a monolithic notion of western civilisation and culture, if it ever was, primarily because of its own internal diversity. Lest people think that this interaction of Islam with the West is something new, we must remember that it has very ancient roots, and was as much intellectual and cultural, as political and military.

Islam is a faith that regards itself as being connected to the Abrahamic tradition. Muslims believe that God had revealed Himself to every human society and, in that experience, God had revealed Himself to many of the significant figures that are part of Biblical history. Prophet Mohammed, to whom the Qur’an was revealed, came to fulfill the preceding revelations, not to oppose them. Therefore, Islam regards itself as being on this continuum of the Abrahamic tradition in which prophets like Abraham, Moses and Jesus are given a place of significant importance as the main mediators between God and human society. In fact, an important festival in the Muslim calendar, which marks the end of the pilgrimage, also commemorates the sacrifice of Prophet Abraham; the story is famous both in the Bible and the Qur’an.

Over time, since its founding, Islam also became the foundation of many civilisations. It was able to enter into many geographical spaces over time from the Mediterranean, what we today call the Near and Middle East, to Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia to Africa. Everywhere that it vent, it laid down roots and encouraged the development of significant civilisations. One important bridging role played by Muslims is often forgotten. The entire philosophical heritage, the legacy of Aristotle, Plato, the great Greek philosophers, physicians and scientists, was translated into Arabic in the 9th century at a place called Bait al-l-Iikrna in Baghdad, and that entire corpus was subsequently available to the West in a Latin translation based on the Arabic, not on the original Greek. Many people forget this bridging role that Islam played, which enabled Greek thought and many of the other cultural traditions to pass through Muslim seats of learning and enter the West. This was an important marker of the open ethos of Muslim learning and represented, in its own time, a sense of belonging to a global heritage.

Islam and Local Cultures

If one looks at Islam from a civilisational point of view, it created opportunities for synthesis with local cultures, to create ways in which learning, art, architecture, music and science could flourish in those societies. They flourished in the languages of the people where that tradition grew, so that in Iran the tradition flourished in Persian, in India in local languages and subsequently in Urdu. In Tajikistan and other parts of Central Asia, it also flourished in their local languages. Arabic remained one of the primary languages that provided the thread, which united all these cultures. But the expression was local and the cultural expressions in architecture, music or art remained particularly sensitive to a synthesis between the local and what had come from the larger Muslim world. That frames for us the way in which Islam played a role in bridging relations between existing cultures and what would emerge as the modem West. Colonisation and war brought these two into conflict. Much of that conflict now spills over into our time, but for a very long period Islam served as a cultural bridge and as a transition between the Mediterranean and the growing civilisation of the West, which was remarkably reflected in the heritage of Spain, for example.

Islam and the Colonial Encounter

The third point about history and Islam is that in modem times that relationship changed for two fundamental reasons. One was colonialism: the overtaking of the majority of the Muslim world by European powers from about the 16th and l7 century onwards. There was virtually no part of the Muslim world that remained untouched by the overflow of European influence, colonialism and expansion. There were countries that escaped maybe direct colonialisation and rule, but virtually every part of the Muslim world was touched by the rise of the West.

When these empires and colonial rule were dismantled, they left behind a very fragmented Muslim world. If one wishes to understand a lot of the difficulty, drama, and chaos sometimes in the Muslim world during the last fifty years, we need to understand that period much better. That fragmentation was followed by a time of seeking new unities, which have been hard to come by because those new unities sought to establish nation-states, which in itself was a new idea for the world at large and certainly for the Muslim world in as much as the focus of such a polity became ‘national’ identity and territory.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

Let us consider the Balkans. When the Soviet Union collapsed there was a ripple effect through the former satellites of the Soviet Union, such as Yugoslavia and Albania. We are still seeing those problems being worked out. Bosnia was an example, Kosovo was another, where groups have begun to identify themselves in very different ways and those identities very often clash with identities that have a different appropriation of history. But the Muslim presence in that part of the world is not an immigrant presence of recent times. It has been an entrenched presence since the time of the Ottomans, over 500 years ago when people in the region converted to Islam, as many had before them to forms of Christianity. So, all of the clashes which are a result of finding ways to define an identity that is nationalistic, are actually based on much larger identities that had a civilisational framework — not an ethnic or national framework. The emergence of ethnic and national identities as a political force is a phenomenon of recent provenance within the Balkans, building again upon different histories which go back centuries.

Moving Beyond Tue clash of civilizations

In the context of this larger picture, what are the key issues that will move us beyond the Clash of Civilizations? ‘Where are the opportunities to build relationships, new clusters that will transcend the potential conflict inherent in the current civilisational order? These questions cannot be answered without asking some very fundamental humanistic questions. These are questions that emerge because of some important changes that need to take place within our own understanding of the nation-state. We have, for a long time, perhaps 200 to 250 years, come to regard the nation-state as a permanent form of existence for ourselves. It is hard to envisage us having political arrangements that do not include nation-states. Yet the forces that dominate our political life today are at cross-purposes with that idea. 

One is the growing sense that we need to build larger boundaries that enable us to assure a better economic and civic framework for our future. For example, in this part of the world we have the North American Free Trade Agreement. It is a larger boundary which includes Canada, Mexico, and the United States. That boundary assumes a freer interchange not only of goods but of people — it will be easier for people to move across borders; it will be easier for people to interact with each other; it will be easier to have cultural relations and educational relations as well as economic ones. The fact that the revolution in communications technology has erased our view of boundaries is also an important new reality. The World Wide Web carries not only ideas but also goods and values.

However, there are forces at work that are not very comfortable with such globally emerging frameworks. Regions still matter, regionalism is strong, regional interests are strong, and there is no tnily representative sense of what these interests should be, shared across the nation. It is a trend that is evident; and needs to be because it says something about the way people perceive larger boundaries as threatening local identity.

Revisioning Political Arrangements

One wonders, if within the context of Western civilisation at this point in time, we are eventually going to see a rethinking of the idea of the nation-state. Is it possible that in time these larger boundaries will become so much more important, that the idea of simply being English, or Canadian, or even American, will become less significant? If that happens, what does it do to our idea of civilisation? We have been used to constructing civilisation out of perhaps local, geographical place-memories. What happens to those concepts and memories, as we build larger entities, networks and coalitions that bind us politically, legally and economically?

It is likely that we will see a dramatic revision in the way in which our own sense of national belonging and geographical location is going to be disrupted by these larger boundaries. That will change the way we think of ourselves as belonging to any one particular civilisation. The next generation of Muslims born and brought up in Canada may not think of themselves as being only Arab, Malay, Turkish, Indian, Pakistani or East African, but will think of themselves also as Canadian Muslims. It is possible that the distance from the national, ethnic

and geographical location will also reduce the relationship with it. This enlargement of the sense of self is critical to the process of development of the larger human famik of which we are all a part.

How does this translate into the fabric of cultural life in a country? The evolutin is difficult to predict, but we should keep our minds open. Nobody believed, even 15 years ago, that the Soviet Union would collapse and that newer patterns would emerge to change the equation of relationships in Central Asia. The consequences of that for people in Central Asia and for others will continue to be of significance.

Anchoring Civilisation

Where in such an evolution, do we seek an anchor for our civilisational identity? Where should we be looking? In geography, inherited language, or culture? New technologies? We have all heard of the human genome that has now been mapped. It is as much an achievement as having a map of Canada; it does not tell us anything about Canadians. A map of Canada simply tells us about how physical space is organised and features are identified. It cannot explain Canadian identity. So, where are we going to get those pieces from? Perhaps we can get them from those values and those ways of looking at human life and culture that are deeply rooted beyond geographical boundaries, that are located elsewhere in what we call the human experience. It is ultimately to ourselves that we will have to look to for the moral compass that will allow us to define civilisation for that period. We are called upon to look into our civilisational past and determine what will guide us.

When the Taliban destroyed the statues of Buddha recently, what was hurtful was not that some stone images had been reduced to rubble or that they were getting political mileage out of it. What was more hurtful was that a human ideal, which had been valued in that part of the world for so long, was destroyed. Muslims have been encouraged to maintain strong interfaith relationships. They are asked to protect other people’s culture and hcitage, not to destroy it. The same can be said of many others throughout history, including those here in North America, who have destroyed other people’s heritage and traditions. But these are not lessons of a clash of civilisations; they are lessons about the elimination of human wisdom and knowledge. That is what we cannot afford to do. If we want to reach beyond the Clash of Civilizations, it is not simply about politics; about global clusters and boundaries. It is about ourselves and it is about the moral horizons we set for ourselves throughout history and for today. In the process, it would be wrong to limit ourselves to any single and closed definition of Muslims. We need to accept the reality of pluralism in Islam, as in other ci ilisations and to reorganise plurality as a condition of all societies.

The Allegory of the Conference of the Birds

There is a work in the Muslim tradition that is very helpful in thinking about these issues. It is a work in Persian, which loosely can be translated as the conference of the Birds. It expresses concerns about analogous issues — human conflict, human distinctions, the meanings of the self in a community. In order to make his point, the work describes how all the birds of the world come together in his allegory. These birds, from different parts of the world, came together under a mediating figure, and they were required to face two questions; What does it mean to be a bird rather than just being a parrot or a swan or a crane? And what is the ultimate reference point for determining whether these birds arc living up to their highest values? Many of the birds wanted to leave it to others to figure out the answe;s. Others felt that they should all be engaged in this enterprise. Eventually, a number of them decided that it was worth pursuing this inquiry. In order for them to search for answers they had to undertake an allegorical journey through seven valleys and mountains where, at each stage, a partial answer is revealed to them about the nature of their ‘birdness’. They must however at the end of the journey seek the Figure who is the source of their quest. Not all of them survive the journey; some of them drop out on the way. Eventually, thirty survive and reach the final stage. They come to the place where they think they are going to be told the answer or they are going to meet their reference point, their teacher, the one who vill make sense of everything. They wait and nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody appears, and they sit together as thirty in a moment of contemplation. The entity they seek is Simurgh. It is the name of a mythical bird, the king of birds. When they sit in contemplation and awaken from that contemplation, they looked around and they awaken to a profound act of understanding. The word in Persian for thirty is ‘sih’ and the word for bird is ‘murgh’. They are the Simurgh. There was no Simurgh outside of them. Their experience, their quest, their origin had brought them to their beginning. Similarly, it is through the discovery of our common, shared heritage that we will learn to define our shared humanity.

But first, we need to undertake the journey. We need to reflect and develop a shared vocabulary which is not limited by any civilisation. We have the opportunity to nvestigate not only the human genome but the map of the human self. That is a difficult journey. It does not happen in any one discipline, it must happen across the University. It will happen in places in between all of the disciplines, where people are forced to talk to each other about issues that are beyond their own discipline or interests. It is hoped that in this spirit, perhaps it may become clearer to us that while we may still face ‘clashes of civilisations’, our journey together, will move us beyond the idea of ‘clash’ to one of ‘harmony’.

 

TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE

EXTRA ORDINARY GAZETTE OF PAKISTAN PART-II

 

GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN

MINISTRY OF KASHMIR AFFAIRS AND

NORTHERN AREAS

****

Islamabad, the 9^th September, 2009

 

AN

ORDER

    to provide greater political empowerment and better governance to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan;

 

    WHEREAS it is expedient to undertake necessary legislative, executive and judicial reforms for granting self-governance to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;

 

    NOW, THEREFORE, the Government of Pakistan is pleased to make the following Order:-

1.    Short title, extent and commencement.- (1) This Order may be called the Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order, 2009.

(2)    It extends to the whole of areas Gilgit-Baltistan.

(3)    It shall come into force on at once.

 

PART. I-PRELIMINARY

2.    Definitions.- (1) In this Order, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context.-

(a)    "Assembly" means the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly;

(b)    "Citizen" unless otherwise expressed in this Order "citizen" means a person who has a domicile of Gilgit-Baltistan;

(c)    "Council" means the Gilgit-Baltistan Council constituted under this Order;

(d)    "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Council who shall be the Prime Minister of Pakistan;

(e)    "Financial year" means the year commencing on the first day of July and ending on the thirtieth day of June;

(f)    "Gilgit-Baltistan" means the areas comprising districts of Astore, Diamer, Ghanche, Ghizer, Gilgit, Hunza-Nagar, Skardu and such other districts as may be created from time to time;

(g)    "Governor" means the Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan and includes a person for the time being acting as, or performing the functions of the Governor;

(h)    "Government" means the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan

(i)    "Joint Sitting" means a joint sitting of the Assembly, the Federal Minister in-charge of the Council Secretariat and the members of the Council;

(j)    "Judge" in relation to the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court or the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court, includes the Chief Judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court and the Chief Court;

(k)    "person" includes any body politic or corporate;

(l)    "prescribed" means prescribed by law or rules made thereunder;

(m)    "Property" includes any right, title or interest in property, movable or immovable, and any means and instruments of production;

(n)    "remuneration" includes salary and pension;

(o)    "Service of Gilgit-Baltistan" means any service, post or office in connection with the affairs of Gilgit-Baltistan including the Council, but does not include service as Chairman of the Council, Governor, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Minister, Minister, Federal Minister in-charge of the Council Secretariat or Advisor, Parliamentary Secretary, Advisor to the Minister or a member of the Assembly or member of the Council; and

(p)    "Speaker" means Speaker of the Assembly and includes any person acting as the Speaker of the Assembly.

(q)     "Vice Chairman of the Council" means the Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan.

 

PART. II-FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

3.    Security of person.- No person shall be deprived of liberty save in accordance with law.

4.    Safeguard as to arrest and detention.- (1) No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest, nor shall he be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.

    (2)    Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest Magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the Court of the Magistrate, and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a Magistrate.

    (3)    Nothing in Clauses (1) and (2) shall apply to any person-

         (a)    who for the time being is an enemy alien, or

    (b)    who is arrested or detained under any law providing for preventive detention.

    (4)    No law providing for preventive detention shall authorize the detention of a person for a period exceeding three months unless the review board set up by the Government has reported before the expiration of the said period of three months that there is, in its opinion, sufficient cause for such detention.

    (5)    When any person is detained in pursuance of an order made under any law providing for preventive detention, the authority making the order shall as soon as may be, communicate to such person the grounds on which the order has been made, and shall afford him the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order:

    Provided that the authority making any such order may refuse to disclose facts which such authority considers it to be against the public interest to disclose.

5.    Slavery and forced labour prohibited.- (1) No person shall be held in slavery, and no law shall permit or in any way facilitate the introduction into Gilgit-Baltistan of slavery in any form.

(2)    All forms of forced labour are prohibited.

(3)    Nothing in this clause shall be deemed to affect compulsory service-

(a)     by persons undergoing punishment for offences under any law; or

(b)    required by any law for a public purpose.

6.    Protection against retrospective punishment.- No law shall authorize the punishment of a person-

(a)    for an act or omission that was not punishable by law at the time of the act or omission; or

(b)    for an offence by a penalty greater than, or of a kind different form, the penalty prescribed by law for that offence at the time the offence was committed.

7.    Freedom of movement.- Subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the public interest, every citizen shall have the right to move freely throughout the Gilgit-Baltistan and to reside and settle in any part thereof.

8.    Freedom of assembly.- Every citizen shall have the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of morality or public order.

9.    Freedom of association.- (1) Subject to this Order, every citizen shall have the right to form association or unions, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of morality or public order.

    (2)    No person or political party in the area comprising Gilgit-Baltistan shall propagate against, or take part in activities prejudicial or detrimental to the ideology of Pakistan.

10.    Freedom of trade, business or profession.- Every citizen possessing such qualifications, if any, as may be prescribed by law in relation to his profession or occupation shall have the right to enter upon any lawful profession or occupation, and to conduct any lawful trade or business:

    Provided that nothing in this Article shall prevent-

(a)    the regulation of any trade or profession by a licensing system; or

(b)     the regulation of trade, commerce or industry in the interest of free competition therein; or

(c)    the carrying on, by Government or the Council, or by a corporation controlled by Government or the Council, of any trade, business, industry or service, to the exclusion, complete or partial, or other persons.

 

11.    Freedom of speech.- Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the security of area Gilgit-Baltistan, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of Court, commission of, or incitement to an offence.

12.    Freedom of religion.- Subject to law, public order and morality-

(a)    every citizen has the right to profess and practice his religion; and

(b)    every religious denomination and every sect thereof has the right to establish, maintain and manage its places of worship.

13.    Safeguard against taxation for purposes of any particular religion.- No person shall be compelled to pay any special tax the proceeds of which are to be spent on the propagation or maintenance of any religion other than his own.

14.    Safeguard as to educational institutions in respect of religion etc.- (1) No person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instructions or take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship, if such instruction, ceremony or worship relates to a religion other than his own.

(2)    No religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community or denomination in any educational institution maintained wholly by that community or denomination.

    (3)    No citizen shall be denied admission to any educational institution receiving aid from public revenues on the ground only of race, religion, caste or place of birth.

    (4)    In respect of any religious institution, there shall be no discrimination against any community in the granting of exemption or concession in relation to taxation.

    (5)    Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent any public authority from making provision for the advancement of any society or educationally backward class.

15.    Provisions as to property.- Subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the public interest, every citizen shall have the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property.

16.    Protection of property.- (1) No person shall be deprived of his property save in accordance with law.

(2)    No property shall be compulsorily acquired or taken possession of save for a public purpose, and save by the authority of law which provides for compensation therefor and either fixes the amount of compensation or specifies the principles on which and the manner in which compensation is to be determined and given.

(3)    Nothing in this clause shall, affect the validity of-

(a)    any law permitting the compulsory acquisition or taking possession of any property for preventing danger to life, property or public health; or

(b)    any law relating to the acquisition, administration or disposal of any property which is or is deemed to be evacuee property under any law; or

(c)    any law permitting the taking over of any property which has been acquired by, or come into the possession of, any person by any unfair means, or in any manner, contrary to law ; or

(d)    any law providing for the taking over of the management of any property by the Government for a limited period, either in the public interest or in order to secure the proper management of the property, or for the benefit of its owner; or

(e)     any law providing for the acquisition of any class of property for the purpose of-

(i)    providing education and medical aid to all or any specified class of citizen; or

(ii)    providing housing and public facilities and services such as roads, water supply, sewerage, gas and electric power to all or any specified class of citizen; or

(iii)    providing maintenance to those who, on account of unemployment, sickness, infirmity or old age, are unable to maintain themselves; or

(f)    any law in force immediately before the coming into force of this Order.

Explanation.- In clauses (2) and (3), the expression 'property' means immovable property, or any commercial or industrial undertaking, or any interest in any undertaking.

17.    Equality of citizens.- All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law.

18.    Non-discrimination in respect of access to public places.- In respect of access to places of public entertainment or resort, not intended for religious purposes only, there shall be no discrimination against any citizen on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex or place of birth, but nothing herein shall be deemed to prevent the making of any special provision for women.

19.    Safeguard against discrimination in services.- No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the services of areas comprising Gilgit-Baltistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste or sex:

    Provided that, in the interest of the said service, specified posts or services may be reserved for members of either sex.

 

PART. III-GOVERNOR

20.    The Governor.-
(1)
There shall be a Governor of the Gilgit-Baltistan who shall be appointed by the President of Pakistan on the advice of the Prime Minister of Pakistan:

 

(a)    Notwithstanding any thing contained in this Order, the Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan shall act as the Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan till the appointment of the first Governor.

(b)    provided that after the first election under this Order, in the absence of Governor, the Speaker of Legislative Assembly shall act as acting Governor.

(3)    A person shall not be appointed as Governor unless he is qualified to be elected as a member of the Assembly or the National Assembly of Pakistan and is not less than thirty five years of age.

 

(4)    The Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President and shall be entitled to such salary, allowances and privileges as the President may determine.

 

(5)    The Governor may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office.

 

(6)    The President may make such provision as he thinks fit for the discharge of the functions of the Governor in any contingency not provided for in this Order.

 

(7)    Before entering upon office, the Governor shall make before the Chief Judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court an oath in the form set out in the First Schedule.

 

(8)    The Governor shall not hold any office of profit in the service of Gilgit-Baltistan or of Pakistan nor occupy any other position carrying the right to remuneration for the rendering of services.

 

(9)    The Governor shall not be a candidate for election as a member of the Assembly, and, if a member of the Assembly is appointed as Governor, his seat in the Assembly shall become vacant on the day he enters upon his office.

21.    Governor to act on advice, etc.- (1) Subject to this Order in the performance of his functions, the Governor shall act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or the Chief Minister:

Provided that the Governor may require the Cabinet or, as the case may be, the Chief Minister to reconsider such advice, whether generally or otherwise, and the Governor shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.

    (2)    The question whether any, and if so what, advice was tendered to the Governor by the Chief Minister or the Cabinet shall not be inquired into in, or by, any court, tribunal or other authority.

PART. IV-THE GOVERNMENT

22.    The Government.- (1) Subject to this Order, the executive authority of Gilgit-Baltistan shall be exercised in the name of the Governor by the Government through Cabinet consisting of the Chief Minister and the Ministers, which shall act through the Chief Minister who shall be the Chief Executive.

(2)    In the performance of his functions under this Order, the Chief Minister may act either directly or through the Ministers.

(3)    The Chief Minister and the Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Assembly.

(4)    Orders and other instructions made and executed in the name of the Governor shall be authenticated in such manner as may be specified in rules to be made by the Government, and the validity of an order or instruction which is so authenticated shall not be questioned in any court on the ground that it is not an order or instruction made or executed by the Governor.

(5)    The Governor, in consultation with Chairman of the Council, may regulate the allocation and transaction of its business and may for the convenient transaction of that business delegate any of its functions to officers or authorities subordinate to it.

23.    The Chief Minister.- (1)     The Assembly shall meet on the thirtieth day following the day on which a general election to the Assembly is held, unless sooner summoned by the Governor.

(2)    After the election of the Speaker, and the Deputy Speaker, the Assembly shall, to the exclusion of any other business, proceed to elect, without debate, one of its members to be the Chief Minister.

(3)     The Chief Minister shall be elected by the votes of the majority of the total membership of the Assembly;

Provided that, if no member secures such majority in the first poll, a second poll shall be held between the members who secure the two highest numbers of votes in the first poll and the member who secures a majority of votes of the members present and voting shall be declared to have been elected as Chief Minister:

    Provided further that, if the number of votes secured by two members securing the highest number of votes is equal, further poll shall be held between them until one of them secures a majority of the members present and voting.

(4)    The member elected under clause (3) shall be invited by the Governor to assume the office of Chief Minister and he shall, before entering upon the office make before the Governor oath in the form set out in the First Schedule.

24.    Ministers.- (1) The Governor shall appoint Ministers from amongst the members of the Assembly on the advice of Chief Minister

(2)    Before entering upon office, a Minister shall make before the Governor oath in the form set out in the First Schedule.

(3)    A Minister may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Chief Minister, resign his office or may be removed from office by the Chief Minister.

25.     Advisors to Chief Minister.- The Governor may, on the advice of Chief Minister,
appoint not more then two Advisors on such term and conditions, as he may determine.

26.    Parliamentary Secretaries.- (1) The Chief Minister may appoint Parliamentary Secretaries from amongst the members of the Assembly to perform such functions as may be prescribed.

(2)    A Parliamentary Secretary may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Chief Minister, resign his office or may be removed from office by the Chief Minister.

27.    Resignation of Chief Minister.- (1) Subject to clause (2) the Chief Minister may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor, resign his office and, when the Chief Minister resigns, the Ministers shall cease to hold office.

(2)    If the Assembly is in session at the time when the Chief Minister resigns his office, the Assembly shall forthwith proceed to elect a Chief Minister, and if the Assembly is not in session the Governor shall for that purpose summon it to meet within fourteen days of the resignation.

28.    Vote of no-Confidence against Chief Minister.- (1) A resolution for a vote of no-confidence moved by not less than twenty percent of the total membership of the Assembly may be passed against the Chief Minister by the Assembly.

 

(2)    A resolution shall not be moved in the Assembly unless by the same resolution the name of another member of the Assembly is put forward as the successor.

(3)    A resolution shall not be moved in the Assembly while the Assembly is considering demands for grants submitted to it in the Annual Budget.

(4)    A resolution shall not be voted upon before the expiration of three days, or later than seven days, form the date on which it is moved in the Assembly.

(5)    If the resolution is passed by majority of the total membership of the Assembly, the Chief Minister and the Ministers appointed by him shall cease to hold office.

(6)     If a resolution is not passed another such resolution shall not be moved until a period of six months has elapsed.

29.    Chief Minister Continuing in Office.- The Governor may ask the Chief Minister to continue to hold office until his successor enters upon the office of the Chief Minister.

30.    Minister performing functions of Chief Minister.- (1) In the event of the death of the Chief Minister or the office of the Chief Minister becoming vacant by reason of his ceasing to be member of the Assembly or he resigns his office, the most senior Minister for the time being shall be called upon by the Governor to perform the functions of that office and the Minister shall continue in office until a new Chief Minister has been elected and has entered upon his office.

(2)    If the Assembly is in session at the time when the Chief Minister dies or the office of the Chief Minster becomes vacant, the Assembly shall forthwith proceed to elect a Chief Minister, and if the Assembly is not in session the Governor shall for that purpose summon it to meet within fourteen days of the death of the Chief Minister or, as the case may be, of the office becoming vacant.

(3)    When, for any reason, the Chief Minister is unable to perform his functions, the most senior Minister for the time being shall perform functions of Chief Minister until the Chief Minister resumes his functions.

(4)    In this Article 'most senior Minister' means the Minister for the time being designated as such by the Chief Minister by notification in the official Gazette.

31.    Extent of Executive Authority of Government.- (1) Subject to this Order, the executive authority of the Government shall extend to the matters with respect to which the Assembly has power to make laws.

(2)    The executive authority of the Government shall be so exercised as to secure compliance with the laws made by the Council and Pakistan laws.

    (3)    Notwithstanding anything contained in this Order, the Government may with the consent of the Council, entrust, either conditionally or unconditionally, to the Council, or to its officers functions in relation to any matter which the executive authority of the Government extends.

32.    Advocate General.- (1) The Governor shall appoint a citizen, being a person qualified to be appointed as Judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court, to be the Advocate General for Gilgit-Baltistan.

(2)    It shall be the duty of the Advocate General to give advice to Government upon such legal matter, and to perform such other duties of a legal character, as may be referred or assigned to him by the Government.

(3)    The Advocate General shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor.

(4)    The Advocate General may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor resign his office.

 

(5)    The person holding the office as Advocate General immediately before the commencement of this Order shall be deemed to be the Advocate General, appointed under this Order.

 

PART. V-GILGIT-BALTISTAN COUNCIL

33.    Gilgit-Baltistan Council.- (1) There shall be a Gilgit-Baltistan Council consisting of.-

(a)	the Prime Minister of Pakistan;
(b)	the Governor;
(c)	six members nominated by the Prime Minister of Pakistan from time to time from amongst Federal Ministers and members of Parliament: Provided that the Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan shall be an ex officio member and Minister Incharge of the Council:
(d)	the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan;
(e)	six members to be elected by the Assembly in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

    (2)    The Prime Minister of Pakistan shall be the Chairman of the Council.

    (3)    The Governor shall be the Vice-Chairman of the Council.

(4)    The Minister of State for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan shall be an ex
officio non voting member of the Council.

    (5)    The qualifications and disqualifications for being elected, as, and for being, a member of the Council shall, in the case of a member referred to in sub-clause (e) of clause (1), be the same as those for being elected as, and for being a member of the Assembly.

    (6)    The seat of a member of the Council elected by the Assembly, hereinafter referred to as an elected member, shall become vacant,-

(a)    if he resigns his seat by notice in writing under his hand addressed to the Chairman or, in his absence, to the Secretary of the Council;

(b)    if he is absent, without the leave of the Chairman, from ten consecutive sittings of the Council;

(c)    if he fails to make the oath referred to in clause (11) within a period of ninety days after the date of his election, unless the Chairman, for good cause shown, extends the period; or

(d)    if he ceases to be qualified for being a member under any provision of this Order or any other law for the time being in force.

(7)    If any question arises whether a member has, after his election, become disqualified from being a member of the Council, the Chairman shall refer the question to the Chief Election Commissioner and, if the Chief Election Commissioner is of the opinion that the member has become disqualified, the member shall cease to be member and his seat shall become vacant.

(8)    An election to fill a vacancy in the office of an elected member shall be held not later than thirty days from the occurrence of the vacancy or, if the election cannot be held within that period because the Assembly is dissolved, within thirty days of the general election to the Assembly.

(9)    The manner of election of elected members and filling of a casual vacancy in the office of an elected member shall be such as may be prescribed.

(10)    An elected member shall hold office during term of the Council.

(11)    An elected member shall, before entering upon office, make before the Chairman or the Vice Chairman oath in the form set out in the First Schedule.

 

(12)    The executive authority of the Council shall extend to all matters with respect to which the Council has power to make laws and shall be exercised, in the name of the Council, by the Chairman who may act either directly or through the Secretariat of the Council of which Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan shall be incharge.

Provided that the Council may direct that, in respect of such matters it may specify, its authority shall be exercisable by the Vice-Chairman of the Council, subject to such conditions, if any, as the Council may specify.

    (13)    The Chairman may from among the elected members of the Council appoint not more than three Advisors on such terms and conditions as he may determine.

(14)    An advisor shall, before entering upon office, make before the Chairman oath in form set out in the First Schedule.

(15)    An Advisor who is a member of the Assembly shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise take part in the proceedings of the Council, but shall not by virtue of this clause be entitled to vote.

(16)    The Council may make rules for regulating its procedure and the conduct of its business, and shall have power to act notwithstanding any vacancy in the membership thereof, and any proceedings of the Council shall not be invalid on the ground that a person who was not entitled to do so sat, voted or otherwise took part in the proceedings.

(17)    Orders and other instruments made and executed in the name of the Council shall be authenticated in such manner as may be specified in rules to be made by the Council and the validity of an order or instrument which is so authenticated shall not be called in question on the ground that it is not an order or instrument made or executed by the Council.

(18)    The Chairman may regulate the allocation and transaction of the business of the Council and may, for the convenient transaction of that business, delegate any of its functions to officers and authorities subordinate to it.

Explanation: In this Article the expression 'Chairman' means Chairman of the Council.

34.    Chairman of Council power to pardon and reprieve.- The Chairman shall have power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority.

 

 

 

 

 

PART. VI-THE LEGISLATURE

35.    Legislative Assembly.-
(1) The Legislative Assembly shall consist of thirty three members of whom-

(a)    twenty four members shall be elected directly on the basis of adult franchise;

(b)    six
women members shall be elected on the pattern as in case of reserved seat in Pakistan.

(c)    three technocrats and other professional members shall be elected on the pattern as in case of reserved seat in Pakistan.

Explanation.- In sub-clause (c), the expression "technocrat or
other professional" includes a person who is in possession of such qualification or experience as may be prescribed.

(2)    The manner of election of the members of the Assembly and the manner of filling casual vacancies shall be such as may be prescribed.

(3)    The Assembly, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for their first meeting.

(4)    A general election to the Assembly shall be held within a period of sixty days immediately proceeding the day on which the term of the Assembly is due to expire, unless the Assembly has been sooner dissolved, and result of the election shall be declared not later than fourteen days before that day.

36.    Oath of members of the Assembly.- (1)    A person elected as a member of the Assembly shall not take his seat in the Assembly until he makes before such person as is prescribed by rules of the Assembly an oath in the form set out in the First Schedule.

(2)    The oath may be made when the Assembly is in session.

(3)    If any person sits or votes in the Assembly knowing that he is not qualified to be, or is disqualified from being a member of the Assembly he shall be liable in respect of every day on which he so sits or votes; shall be guilty of an offence punishable for a term which shall not be less than seven years and a fine which shall not be less than two hundred thousand rupees.

37.    Qualifications of members of the Assembly.- (1) A person shall be qualified to be elected as, and to be, a member of the Assembly if-

(a)    he is a citizen;

(b)    he is not less than twenty-five years of age; and

(c)    his name appears on the electoral roll of any constituency in Gilgit-Baltistan..

(2)    A person shall be disqualified
from being so elected if-

(a)    he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court; or

(b)    he is an undischarged insolvent unless a period of ten years has elapsed since his being adjudged as insolvent; or

(c)    he has been on conviction for any offence sentenced to transportation for any term or imprisonment for a term of not less than two years unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release; or

(d)    he holds any office of profit in the service of Gilgit-Baltistan or in the service of Pakistan other than a office which is not a whole time office remunerated either by salary or by fee other than an office specified in the Second Schedule; or

(e)     he has been in the service of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and AJ&K or of any statutory body or any body which is owned or controlled by the Government of Pakistan, AJ&K and Gilgit-Baltistan or in which the Government has a controlling share or interest, unless a period of two years has elapsed since he ceased to be in such service; or

 

(f)    he has been dismissed for misconduct from the service of Gilgit-Baltistan or the service of Pakistan unless a period of five years has elapsed since his dismissal; or

(g)    he is otherwise disqualified from being a member of the Assembly by this Order or by any other law.

 

38.        Seat in Assembly becomes vacant under certain circumstances.- (1)     The seat of a member of the Assembly shall become vacant if-

 

(a)    he resigns his seat by notice in writing under his hand addressed to the Speaker, in his absence, to the Secretary of the Assembly; or

(b)    he is absent from the Assembly without the leave of the Assembly for thirty consecutive sitting days of the Assembly; or

(c)    he fails to make the oath referred to in Article 36 within a period of ninety days after the date of his election unless the Speaker for good cause shown extends the period; or

(d)    he is elected as member of the Council; or

(e)    he ceases to be qualified for being a member under any provision of this Order or any other law.

 

(2)     If the member of the Assembly is elected to more than one seat, he shall within a period of thirty days after the declaration of result for the last such seat, resign all but one of his seats, and if he does not so resign, all the seats to which he has been elected shall become vacant at the expiration of the said period of thirty days except the seat to which he has been last elected or, if he has been elected to more than one seat on the same day, the seat for election to which his nomination was filed last.

(3)    If any question arises whether a member of the Assembly has, after his election become disqualified from being a member of the Assembly, the Speaker shall refer the question to the Chief Election Commissioner and, if the Chief Election Commissioner is of the opinion that the member has become disqualified the member shall cease to be a member and his seat shall become vacant.

(4)    When except by dissolution of the Assembly, a seat in the Assembly has become vacant not later than one hundred and twenty days before the term of the Assembly is due to expire, an election to fill the seat shall be held within sixty days from the occurrence of the vacancy.

 

39.    Right of Governor to address the Assembly. - (1) The Governor may address the Assembly and may for that purpose require the attendance of the members.

(2)    The Advocate General shall have the right to speak and otherwise take part in the proceedings of the Assembly or any Committee thereof of which he may be named a member, but shall not by virtue of this Article be entitled to vote.

40.    Meetings of the Assembly.- (1) The Assembly shall assemble at such times and at such places as the Governor may appoint, and the Governor may prorogue a session of the Assembly except when the Assembly has been summoned by the Speaker.

(2)    Any meeting of the Assembly may be adjourned by the Speaker or other person presiding thereat.

(3)    There shall be at least three sessions of the Assembly every year, and not more than one hundred and twenty days shall intervene between the last sitting of the Assembly in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.

Provided that the Assembly shall meet for not less than one hundred and thirty working days in each parliamentary year.

(4)    On a requisition signed by not less than one-third of the total membership of the Assembly, the Speaker shall summon the Assembly to meet, at such time and place as he thinks fit, within fourteen days of the receipt of the requisition, and when the Speaker has summoned the Assembly, only he may prorogue it.

 

41.    Dissolution of the Assembly.- (1) The Governor shall dissolve the Assembly if so advised by the Chief Minister, and the Assembly shall, unless sooner dissolved, stands dissolved at the expiration of the forty-eight hours after the Chief Minister has so advised.

 

Explanation.- Reference in this Article to Chief Minister shall not be construed to include reference to a Chief Minister against whom a resolution for a vote of no-confidence has been moved in the Assembly but has not been voted upon or against whom such a resolution has been passed or who is continuing in office after his resignation or after the dissolution of the Assembly or a Minister performing the functions of Chief Minister under clause (I) or clause (3) of Article 30.

 

(2)    When the Assembly is dissolved a general election to the Assembly shall be held within a period of ninety days after the dissolution, and the result of the election shall be declared not later than fourteen days after the conclusion of the polls.

 

42.    Speaker of the Assembly.- (1) After a general election, the Assembly shall, at its first meeting and to the exclusion of any other business, elect from amongst its members a Speaker
and a Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.

    Provided that the period intervening between the declaration of the official result of the election to the Assembly and the date for assumption of office of members shall not exceed thirty days.

(2)    Before entering upon office, a member of the Assembly elected as Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall make before the Assembly an oath in the form set out in the First Schedule.

(3)    All the proceedings of the Assembly shall be conducted in accordance with rules of procedures made by the Assembly and approved by the Governor.

(4)    The Speaker shall preside the meetings of the Assembly except when a resolution for his removal from the office is being considered and, when the office of the Speaker is vacant, or the Speaker is absent, or is unable to perform his functions due to any cause, the Deputy Speaker shall act as Speaker and if at that time, the Deputy Speaker is also absent or is unable to act as Speaker due to any cause, such member of the Assembly present as may be determined by the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly shall preside at the meeting of the Assembly.

(5)    Soon after as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the Assembly shall elect one of its members to fill the office.

(6)    The Speaker may resign from his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor.

(7)    The Deputy Speaker may resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Speaker.

(8)    The office of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall become vacant if-

(a)    except as provided in clause (9) he ceases to be a member of the Assembly; or

(b)    he is removed from office by a resolution of the Assembly, of which not less than seven days' notice by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of the Assembly has been given and which is passed by a majority of total membership of the Assembly.

(9)    When the Assembly is dissolved, the Speaker shall continue in his office till the person elected to fill the office by the next Assembly enters upon his office.

43.    Voting in Assembly and quorum.- (1) Subject to this Order,-

(a)    a decision in the Assembly shall be taken by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting but the Speaker or the person presiding in his absence shall not vote except when there is an equality of votes in which case he shall exercise his casting vote;

(b)    the Assembly may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership; and

(c)    any proceedings in the Assembly shall not be invalid on the ground that some person who was not entitled to do so sit, voted or otherwise took part in the proceedings.

 

(2)    If at any time during the meeting of the Assembly the attention of the person presiding at the meeting is drawn to the fact that number of the members is less than one-third of the total membership of the Assembly, it shall be the duty of the person presiding either to adjourn the meeting or to suspend the meeting till such number of members are present.

 

44.    Restriction on discussion in Assembly, etc.- No discussion shall take place in the Assembly or the Council or the joint sitting with respect to matters relating to Foreign Affairs, Defence, Internal Security and Fiscal Plans of Government of Pakistan and the conduct of the any Judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court or the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court in the discharge of his duties.

45.    Finance Committee.- (1) The expenditure of the Assembly within authorized appropriation shall be controlled by the Assembly acting on the advice of the Finance Committee.

(2)    The Finance Committee shall consist of the Speaker, the Finance Minister and such other members as may be elected thereto by the Assembly.

 

46.    Secretariat of the Assembly.- (1) The Assembly shall have a     separate Secretariat.

    (2)    The Assembly may by law regulate the recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to the Secretariat Staff of the Assembly.

(3)    Until provision is made by the Assembly under clause (2) the persons appointed to the Secretariat Staff of the Assembly shall continue to be governed by conditions of service for the time being applicable to them.

 

 

PART. VII-DISTRIBUTION OF LEGISLATIVE POWERS

47.    Legislative Powers.- (1) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this Article, both the Council and the Assembly shall have the power to make laws,-

 

(a)    for the territories of Gilgit-Baltistan;

(b)    for all citizens of Gilgit-Baltistan; and

(c)    for the officers of the Council or as the case may be, the Government, wherever they may be.

(2)    Subject to clause (3)-

 

(a)    the Council shall have exclusive power to make laws with respect to any matter in the Council Legislative List set out in the Third Schedule, hereinafter referred to as the Council Legislative List; and

(b)    the Assembly shall, and the Council shall not, have power to make laws with respect to any matter enumerated in the Fourth Schedule referred to as the Assembly Legislative List.

(c)    The Council shall have the powers to adopt any amendment in the existing Laws or any new Law in force in Pakistan.

(3)    The Government of Pakistan shall have exclusive power to make laws in respect of any matter not enumerated in the Council Legislative List or the Assembly Legislative List by Order notified in the official Gazette.

48.    Tax to be levied by laws only.- No tax shall be levied for the purposes of the territories of Gilgit-Baltistan except by or under the authority of an Act of the Council or the Assembly and all taxes and levies competently imposed under an Act of the Assembly or the Council or under any law made by the Government of Pakistan shall remain in force..

 

PART. VIII-ISLAMIC PROVISIONS

49.    No laws against Islamic Injunctions, etc.- No law shall be repugnant to the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah and all existing laws shall be brought in conformity with the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

 

50.    Reference to Council of Islamic Ideology.- (1) If one-third of the total number of the members of the Assembly or, as the case may, the Council so requires, the Assembly or the Council shall refer to the Council of Islamic Ideology constituted under the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan (hereinafter referred to as the Islamic Council) for advice on any question as to whether a proposed law is or is not repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.

(2)    When a question is referred by the Assembly or the Council, as the case may be, the Council of Islamic Ideology shall, within fifteen days thereof, inform the Assembly or the Council, as the case may be, of the period within which the Council of Islamic Ideology expects to be able to furnish that advice.

 

(3)    Where the Assembly or, as the case may be, the Council considers that in the public interest, the making of the proposed law in relation to which the question arose should not be postponed until the advice of the Council of Islamic Ideology is furnished, the law may be made before the advice is furnished.

    Provided that, where a law is referred for advice to the Council of Islamic Ideology and the Council advises that the law is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam, the Assembly or, as the case may be, the Council shall reconsider the law so made.

 

51.    General provisions regarding Council, etc.- (1) The validity of any proceedings in the Council or the Assembly shall not be questioned in any Court.

(2)    An officer or member or an authority in whom powers are vested for regulation of proceedings, conduct of business, maintain order in the Council or the Assembly shall not, in relation to exercise by him of any of those powers, be subject to the jurisdiction of any Court.

(3)    A member of, or a person entitled to speak in, the Council or the Assembly, shall not be liable to any proceedings in any Court in respect of anything said by him or any vote given by him in the Council or the Assembly or in any Committee thereof.

(4)    A person shall not be liable to any proceedings in any Court in respect of publication by or under the authority of the Council or the Assembly, of any report, paper, vote or proceedings.

(5)    No process issued by a Court or other authority shall except with the leave of the Chairman of the Council or the Speaker be served or executed within the precincts of the place where a meeting of the Council or, as the case may be, the Assembly is being held.

(6)    Subject to this Article, the privileges of the Council, the Assembly, the Committees and members of the Council, or the Assembly and of the persons entitled to speak in the Council, or the Assembly, may be determined by law.

 

52.    Authentication of Bills Passed by the Council.- A Bill passed by the Council shall not require the assent of the Governor and shall, upon its authentication by the Chairman of the Council, become law and be called an Act of the Council.

53.    Governor's assent to Bills.- (1) Subject to this Order, when a Bill has been passed by the Assembly it shall be presented to the Governor for assent.

    (2)     When a Bill is presented to the Governor for assent, the Governor shall, within thirty days,-

(a)     assent to the Bill; or

(b)    in the case of a Bill other then a Money Bill, return the Bill to the Assembly with a massage requesting that the Bill, or any specified provision thereof, be reconsidered and that any amendment specified in the message be considered.

    (3)     When the Governor has returned a Bill to the Assembly, it shall be reconsidered by the Assembly and, if it is again passed, with or without amendment, by the Assembly, by the votes of the majority of the members of the Assembly present and voting, and in accordance with the provision of this Order and in not in any manner prejudicial to the security, integrity, solidarity and strategic interest of Pakistan, it shall be again presented to the Governor and Governor shall not withhold assent thereform.

    (4)     When the Governor has assented to a Bill, it shall become law and be called an Act of Assembly.

 

PART. IX-FINANCIAL PROCEDURE

54.    Council Consolidated Fund.- (1) All revenues received by the Council, all loans raised by the Council and all moneys received by it in payment of any loan shall form a part of Consolidated Fund, to be known as the Council Consolidated Fund.

(2)    All other moneys-

(a)    received by or on behalf of the Council; or

(b)    received by or deposited with the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court or any other Court established under the authority of this Order shall be credited to the Public Account of the Council.

(3)    The Custody of the Council Consolidated Fund, the payment of money into that Fund, the withdrawal of money there from, the custody of other moneys received by or on behalf of the Council, their payment into, and withdrawal from the Public Account of the Council, and all matters connected with or ancillary to the matters aforesaid, shall be regulated by the Act of the Council or, until provision in that behalf is so made, by rules made by the Chairman of the Council.

(4)    The Council shall, in respect of every financial year, cause to be prepared, and approve, a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure of the Council for that year.

(5)    The Chairman of the Council shall authenticate by his signature the statement approved by the Council under clause (4), and no expenditure from the Council Consolidated Fund shall be deemed to be duly authorized unless it is specified in the statement so authenticated.

(6)    If in respect of any financial year it is found:

(a)    that the amount authorized to be expended for a particular service for the current financial year is insufficient, or that a need has arisen for expenditure upon some new service not included in the statement referred to in clause (4) for that year; or

(b)    that any money has been spend on any service during a financial year in excess of the amount granted for that year, the Chairman of the Council shall have the power to authorize expenditure from the Council Consolidated Fund and shall cause to be laid before the Council a supplementary statement or, as the case may be, an excess statement, setting out the amount of that expenditure, and the provision of clause (3) and (4) shall apply to theses statements as they apply to the statement referred to in clause (3).

(7)    Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this Article, the Council shall have power to make any grant in advance in respect of the estimated expenditure for a part of any financial year, not exceeding four months, pending completion of the procedure prescribed in clause (3) and (4).

55.    Gilgit-Baltistan Consolidated Fund.- (1) All revenues received by the Government, all loans raised by the Government with the approval of Government of Pakistan and all moneys received by it in payment of any loan shall form a part of Consolidated Fund, to be known as the Gilgit-Baltistan Consolidated Fund.

(2)    All other moneys-

(a)    received by or on behalf of the Government; or

(b)    received by or deposited with any other Court established under the authority of the Government, shall be credited to the Public Account of the Government.

(3)    The custody of the Gilgit-Baltistan Consolidated Fund, the payment of money into that Fund, the withdrawal of money therefrom, the custody of other moneys received by or on behalf of the Government, their

payment into, and withdrawal from the Public Account of the Government, and all matters connected with or ancillary to the matters aforesaid, shall be regulated by the Act of the Assembly or, until provision in that behalf is so made, by rules made by the Governor.

56.    Budget.- (1) The Government shall, in respect of every financial year, cause to be laid before the Assembly a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure for that year, to be called the Annual Budget.

 

(2)    The Annual Budget shall be submitted to the Assembly in the form of demands for grant and the Assembly shall have power to assent to, or to refuse to assent to any demand, or to assent to any demand subject to a reduction of the amount specified therein.

    

(3)    No demand for a grant shall be made except on the recommendation of the Government.

(4)    The Annual Budget as passed by the Assembly shall be placed

before the Governor who shall authenticate it by his signature.

 

(5)    If in respect of any financial year it is found_

(a)    that the amount authorized to be expended for a particular service for the current financial year is insufficient, or that a need has arisen for expenditure upon some new service not included in the Annual Budget for that year; or

(b)    that any money has been spend on any service during a financial year in excess of the amount granted for that year, the Government shall have the power to authorize expenditure from the Gilgit-Baltistan Consolidated Fund and shall cause to be laid before the Assembly a Budget or, as the case may be, an excess Budget, setting out the amount of that expenditure, and the provisions of this Article shall apply to those Budgets as they apply to the Annual Budget.

 

(6)    Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, the Assembly shall have power to make any grant in advance in respect of the estimated expenditure for a part of any financial year, not exceeding four months, pending completion of the procedure prescribed in clause (2) for the voting of such grant and the authentication of the Budget as passed by the Assembly in accordance with the provisions of clause (4) in relation to the expenditure.

57.    Special provisions regarding Budget, etc.- (1) Where the Annual Budget for any financial year cannot be passed by the Assembly by reason of its having been dissolved, the Chief Minister shall cause to be prepared an Annual Budget for that year and, by his signature, authenticate the Budget.

(2)    The Annual Budget for any financial year authenticated by the Chief Minister under clause (1) shall, for the purpose of this Act, be deemed to have been passed by the Assembly.

 

58.    Restriction on expenditure.- No expenditure shall be incurred by the Government except authorized by the Annual or Supplementary Budget as passed or deemed to have been passed by the Assembly.

 

PART. X-ORDINANCE

59.    Power to make Ordinance.- (1) The Governor may, except when the Assembly is in session, if satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action, make and promulgate an Ordinance as the circumstances may require.

(2)     An Ordinance promulgated under this Article shall have the same force and effect as an Act of the Assembly and shall be subject to like restrictions as the power of the Assembly to make law, but every such Ordinance;

 

1. shall be laid before the Assembly and shall stand repealed at the expiration of four months from its promulgation or, if before the expiration of that period a resolution disapproving it is passed by the Assembly, upon the passing of that resolution; and
   

 

(b)    may be withdrawn at any time by the Governor.

(3) Without prejudice to the provisions of clause (2) an Ordinance laid before the Assembly or the Council shall be deemed to be a Bill introduced in the Assembly or the Council, as the case may be.

(4) The Governor shall likewise, except when the Council is in session,

if so advised by the Chairman of the Council, make, promulgate and withdraw an Ordinance as the circumstances may require, and the provisions of clause (2) and clause (3) shall apply to an Ordinance so made as if references therein to 'Act of the Assembly and, Assembly were references respectively to' Act of the Council and Council.

 

PART. XI-THE JUDICATURE

60.    Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court.- (1) There shall be constituted a Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court, referred to as the Supreme Appellate Court to be the highest Court of Appeal.

(2)    Subject to the provisions of this Order, the Supreme Appellate Court shall have such jurisdiction as is or may be conferred on it by this Order or by under any law.

(3)    The Supreme Appellate Court shall consist of a Chief Judge to be known as Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan and two other Judges:

Provided that the Government of Pakistan may from time to time increase the number of judges.

(4)    The person holding office as Chief Judge or other Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court immediately before the commencement of this Order shall be deemed to be the Chief Judge or other Judge as the case may be appointed under this Order.

(5)    The Chief Judge of Supreme Appellate Court shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Council on the advice of the Governor and other Judges shall be appointed by the Chairman on the advice of Governor after seeking views of the Chief Judge.

(6)    A person shall not be appointed as the Chief Judge or Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan unless he_

1. has been a judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan or is qualified to be a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan; or
   
2. has for a period of, or for periods aggregating, not less than five years been a Judge of a Chief Court; or
   
3. for a period of or for periods aggregating, not less than fifteen years has been an advocate of a High Court.
   
   

Explanation.- In this sub-clause, the expression 'High Court' includes,-

1. the Chief Court of Gilgit-Baltistan, or an equivalent Court that existed in Gilgit-Baltistan before the 1^st day of August, 2009; and
   

 

1. a High Court in Pakistan including a High Court that existed in Pakistan at any time before the 1^st day of July, 2009.
   

(7)    Before entering upon office, the Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan shall make before the Governor and any other Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan shall make before the Chief Judge, oath in the form set out in the First Schedule.

(8)    The Chief Judge and judges of the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan shall be appointed for a term not exceeding three years and may be appointed for such further term as the Government of Pakistan may determine, unless they sooner resign or are removed from office in accordance with law.

(9)    At any time when the office of Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan is vacant, or the Chief Judge, is absent or unable to perform the functions of his office due to any other cause, the next senior Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court to act as Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan.

(10)    The remuneration and other terms and conditions of service of the Chief Judge and of a Judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court shall be such as are admissible to the Chief Justice of Pakistan and Judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

(11)    Subject to the succeeding provision of this Article, the Supreme Court of Gilgit-Baltistan shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from judgments, decrees, final orders or sentences of the Chief Court of Gilgit-Baltistan.

(12)    An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Appellate Court of the Gilgit-Baltistan from any judgment, decree, final order or sentence of the Chief Court of Gilgit-Baltistan,-

1. if the Chief Court has on appeal reversed an order of acquittal of an accused person and sentenced to death or to imprisonment for life; or, on revision, has enhanced a sentence to a sentence as aforesaid; or.
   
2. if the Chief Court has withdrawn for trial before itself any case from any court subordinate to it and has in such trial convicted the accused person and sentenced him as aforesaid; or
   
3. if the Chief Court has imposed any punishment on any person for contempt of the Chief Court; or
   
4. if the amount or value of the subject matter of the dispute in the court of first instance was, and also in dispute in appeal is, not less than fifty thousand rupees or such other sum as may be specified in that behalf by Act of the Council and judgment, decree or final order appealed from has varied or set aside the judgment, decree or final order of the court immediately below; or
   
5. if the judgment, decree or final order involved directly or indirectly some claim or question respecting property or the like amount or value and the judgment, decree or final order appealed from has varied or set aside the judgment, decree or final order of the court immediately below; or
   
6. if the Chief Court certifies that the case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Order.
   

(13)    An appeal to the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court of from a judgment, decree, order or sentence of the Chief Court in a case to which clause (11) does not apply shall lie only if the Supreme Appellate Court of grants leave to appeal.

(14)    (a)    an appeal to Gilgit-Baltistan the Supreme Appellate Court shall be heard by a Bench consisting of not less than two judges to be constituted or reconstituted by the Chief Judge;

(b)     if the Judges hearing a petition or an appeal are divided in opinion, the opinion of majority shall prevail;

(c)    if there is no such majority as aforesaid the petition or appeal, as the case may be, shall be placed for hearing and disposal before another Judge to be nominated by the Chief Judge:

        Provided that in case of difference of opinion as aforesaid, the decision of the Supreme Appellate Court shall be expressed in term of opinion of the senior of the two Judges.

(15)    The person holding office as Chief Judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan immediately before the commencement of this Order shall as from such commencement hold office as Chief Judge of Supreme Appellate Court under this Order on terms and conditions prescribed in this Order provided these are not inferior to the terms an conditions applicable to him immediately before such commencement.

(16)    All legal proceedings pending in the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court, immediately before the commencement of this Order, shall on such commencement, stand transferred to, and be deemed to be pending before the Supreme Appellate Court for determination and any judgment or order of the Supreme Appellate Court delivered or made before such commencement shall have the same force and effect as if it had been delivered or made by the Supreme Appellate Court.

61.    Original Jurisdiction._ (1)    Without prejudice to the provisions of Article-71, the Supreme Appellate Court, on an application of any aggrieved party, shall if it considers that a question of general public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the fundamental right conferred by Part II of this Order is involved, have the power to make declaratory order of the nature mentioned in the said Article.

    (2)    An application made under clause (1) shall be heard by a Bench comprising not less than two Judges to be constituted by the Chief Judge.

62.    Issue and execution of processes of Supreme Appellate Court.- (1) The Supreme Appellate Court shall have powers to issue such directions,
orders or decrees as may be necessary for doing complete justice in any case or matter pending before it including an order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any person or the discovery or production of any document.

    (2)    Any such direction, order or decree shall be enforceable throughout Gilgit-Baltistan as if it has been issued by the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court.

    (3)    All executive and judicial authorities throughout Gilgit-Baltistan shall act in aid of the Supreme Appellate Court.

    (4)    Subject to this Order and Law, the Supreme Appellate Court may, in consultation with the Council, make rules regulating the practice and procedure of the Court:

Provided that till the new rules are framed, the rules framed by the Supreme Appellate Court shall, so far as they are not inconsistent with this Order and any other law, deemed to have been made by the Supreme Appellate Court until altered or amended and references to the Supreme Appellate Court in these rules shall be construed to be referred to the Supreme Appellate Court.

63.    Decisions of Supreme Appellate Court binding on other Courts.- Any decision of the Supreme Appellate Court shall, to the extent that it decides a question of law or is based upon or enunciates a principle of law, be binding on all other Courts in the Gilgit-Baltistan.

64.    Seat of the Supreme Appellate Court.- (1) The Seat of the Supreme Appellate Court shall be at Gilgit.

(2)     The Supreme
Appellate Court may sit at such other place or places as the Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan, with the approval of the Governor, may appoint.

65.        Review of judgment or order by the Supreme Appellate Court.- The Supreme Appellate Court shall have powers, subject to the provisions of an Act of the Assembly or the Council and of any rules made by the Supreme Appellate Court, to review any judgment pronounced or any order made by it.

66.    Supreme Judicial Council.- (1) There shall be a Supreme Judicial Council of Gilgit-Baltistan.

(2)    The Supreme Judicial Council shall consist of,_

1. the Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan who shall be its Chairman.
   

1. the Senior Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court; and
   
2. the Chief Judge of the Chief Court .
   

   (3)    A Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court or of the Chief Court shall not be removed from office except as provided by this Article.
   

   Explanation: The expression "Judge" includes the Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Chief Judge of Chief Court of Gilgit-Baltistan.
   

   (4)    If on information received from the Supreme Judicial Council or from any other source, the Chairman of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council or the Governor is of the opinion that a Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court or of the Chief Court,_
   

   (a)    may be incapable of properly performing the duties of his office by reason of physical or mental incapacity; or
   

   (b)    may have been guilty of misconduct, the Chairman or the Governor, as the case may be, shall direct the Supreme Judicial Council to inquire into the matter.
   

   (5)    If, upon any matter inquired into by the Supreme Judicial Council, there is a difference of opinion amongst its members, the opinion of the majority shall prevail, and the report of the Supreme Judicial Council shall be expressed in terms of the view of the majority.
   

   (6)    If, after inquiring into the matter, the Supreme Judicial Council reports to the Chairman of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council that it is of the opinion.
   

   1. that the Judge is incapable of performing the duties of his office or has been guilty of misconduct; and
      
   2. that he should be removed from office, the Chairman shall advise the Governor to remove the Judge from his office and the Governor shall pass orders accordingly.
      

   (7)    The Supreme Judicial Council shall issue a Code of conduct to be observed by Judges of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court, and of the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court.
   

   (8)    If at any time the Supreme Judicial Council is inquiring the conduct of a Judge who is a member of the Supreme Judicial Council, or a member of the Supreme Judicial Council is absent or is unable to act due to illness or any other cause, than;
   

   (a)    If such member is the Chief Judge or the Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court the Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court who is next in seniority;
   

   (b)     If such member is the Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan Court, the most senior most of the other Judges of the Chief Court, shall, act as a member of the Supreme Judicial Council in his place.
   

   (9)     If, upon any matter inquired into by the Supreme Judicial Council, there is a difference of opinion amongst its member, the opinion of the Supreme Judicial Council shall be expressed in terms of the view of the majority.
   

   67.    Power of Supreme Judicial Council to enforce attendance of persons, etc.- (1) for the purpose of inquiring into any matter, the Supreme Judicial Council shall have the same powers as has the Supreme Appellate Court, to issue directions or order for securing the attendance of any person or the discovery or the production of any document and any such direction or order shall be enforceable as if it has been issued by the Supreme Appellate Court.
   

   (2)    The provisions of Article 60, shall, mutatis mutandis apply to the Supreme Judicial Council as they apply to the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court and the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court.
   

   
    

   68.    Bar of Jurisdiction.-    The proceedings before the Supreme Judicial Council, and the removal of a Judge under Article 66, shall not be called in question in any Court.
   

   
    

   69.    Gilgit-Baltistan
   Chief Court. - (1) There shall be a Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court, hereinafter called the Chief Court, which shall consist of a Chief Judge and four other judges of whom 60% will be appointed from lawyers community and 40% from subordinate judiciary:
   

   Provided that the Government of Pakistan may from time to time increase the number of judges.
   

   (2)    The function of the Chief Court may be performed by a Single Bench, a Division Bench or a Full Bench:, but the Chief Judge may recall a case pending before a Bench and make it over to another Bench or constitute a larger Bench for the purpose.
   

   (3)    In case of difference of opinion in a Full Bench, the opinion of the majority shall prevail;
   

   (4)    In case of difference of opinion in a Division Bench, the matter shall be referred to a third judge and the decision of the Chief Court shall be expressed in terms of judgment of the majority.
   

   
    

   (5)    The person holding office as Chief Judge or other Judge of the Chief Court Immediately before the commencement of this Order shall be deemed to be the Chief Judge or other Judge as the case may be appointed under this Order.
   

   (6)    The Chief Judge and Judges of the Chief Court shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Council on the advice of the Governor.
   

   (7)    A person shall not be appointed as a Judge of the Chief Court unless-
   

   1. he has for a period, or for periods aggregating, not less than ten years, been an Advocate of the Chief Court or a High Court in Pakistan.
      

      Provided that the expression "High Court" herein shall include a High Court or an equivalent Court that existed at any time before the 1^st day of August, 2009; or
      

   2. he has for a period of not less than ten years held a judicial office out of which not less than three years shall have been as District and Sessions Judge.
      

   
    

   (8)    Before he enters upon his office, the Chief Judge of the Chief Court shall make before the Governor, and judge of the Chief Court shall make before the Chief Judge, an oath in the form set out in the First Schedule.
   

   (9)    The Chief Judge or a Judge of the Chief Court shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty two years, unless he sooner resigns or is removed from office in accordance with law:
   

       Provided that the Chairman of the Gilgit- Baltistan Council may appoint a retired Judge of any High Court of Pakistan to be the Chief Judge or a Judge of the Chief Court for a period not exceeding three years and such person shall hold office till he attains the age of sixty-five years.
   

   (10)    If at any time any Judge of the Chief Court is absent or is unable to perform his functions due to illness or some other cause, the Chairman of the Gilgit- Baltistan Council may appoint a person qualified for appointment as a Judge of the Chief Court to be an Additional Judge for the period for which the Judge is absent or unable to perform his functions.
   

   (11)    A Judge of the Chief Court shall not,-
   

   1. hold any other office of profit in the service of the Gilgit-Baltistan if his remuneration is thereby increased; or
      
   2. occupy any other position carrying the right to remuneration for the rendering of services, but this clause shall not be construed as preventing a Judge from holding or managing private property.
      

   (12)    A person who has held office as Judge of the Chief Court shall not hold any office of profit in the service of Gilgit-Baltistan not being a Judicial or quasi-Judicial office or the office of Chief Election Commissioner or of Chairman or member of the Public Service Commission, before the expiration of two years after he ceased to hold that office.
   

   (13)    The remuneration and other terms and conditions of service of the Chief Judge and Judges of Chief Court shall be such as admissible the Chief Justice and the Judges of the High Courts of Pakistan.
   

   70.    Acting Chief Judge.- At any time when-
   

   (a)     the Office of Chief Judge of Chief Court is vacant;
   

   (b)     the Chief Judge of Chief Court is absent or is unable to perform the functions of his office due to any other cause, the Governor shall appoint the most senior Judge of the Chief Court to act as Chief Judge.
   

   71.    Jurisdiction of Chief Court.- (1) The Chief Court shall have such jurisdiction as is conferred on it by this Order or by any other law.
   

   (2)    Subject to this Order, the Chief Court may if it is satisfied that no other adequate remedy is provided by law,-
   

       (a)     the Government, exercising any power or performing any function in, or in relation to, Gilgit-Baltistan as may be appropriate for the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights conferred by this Order. on the application of any aggrieved party, make an order,--
   

   (i)    directing a person performing functions in connection with the affairs of Gilgit-Baltistan or local authority to refrain from doing that which he is not permitted by law to do, or to do that which he is required by law to do; or
   

   (ii)    declaring that any act done or proceeding taken by a person performing functions in connection with the affairs of the Gilgit-Baltistan or a local authority has been done or taken without lawful authority, and is of no legal effect; or
   

   (b)         on the application of any person, make an order.-
   

   
    

   (i)    directing that a person in custody in Gilgit-Baltistan be brought before the Chief Court so that the Court may satisfy itself that he is not being held in custody without lawful authority or in an unlawful manner; or
   

   
    

   (ii)    requiring a person holding or purporting to hold a public office in connection with the affairs of Gilgit-Baltistan to show under what authority of law he claims to hold that office; or
   

   (c)    on the application of any aggrieved person, make an
   

   order giving such directions to the person or authority, including the Council.
   

   (3)    An order shall not be made under clause (2) on application made by or in relation to a person in the Armed Forces of Pakistan in respect of his terms and conditions of service, in respect of any matter arising out of his service or in respect of any action in relation to him as a member of the Armed Forces of Pakistan.
   

   (4)    Where,--
   

   (a)    an application is made to the Chief Court for an order under sub-clause (a) or sub-clause (c) of clause (2); and
   

   (b)    the Court has reason to believe that the making of an interim order would have the effect of prejudicing or interfering with the carrying out of a public work or otherwise being harmful to the public interest, the Court shall not make an interim order unless the Advocate-General has been given notice of the application and the Court, after the Advocate-General or any officer authorized by him in this behalf has been given an opportunity of being heard, is satisfied that the making of the interim order would not have the effect referred to in sub-clause (b) of this clause.
   

   (5)    In this Article unless the context otherwise requires, the expression "person" includes any body politic or corporate, any authority of or under control of the Council or the Government and any court or tribunal other than the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court, the Chief court or a Court or tribunal establish under a law relating to the Armed Forces of Pakistan.
   

   72.    Rules of procedure.- Subject to this Order and law the Chief Court may in consultation with the Government, make rules regulating practice and procedure of the Court or of any Court subordinate to it.
   

   73.    
   Decision of Chief Court binding on subordinate Courts.- Subject to Article 47, any decision of Chief Court shall, to the extent that it decides a question of law or is based upon or enunciates a principle of law, be binding on all Courts subordinate to it.
   

   74.    Seat of the Chief Court.- (1) The permanent seat of the Chief Court shall be at Gilgit.
   

   (2)    The Chief Court may, from time to time, sit at such other place as the Chief Judge of the Chief Court, with the approval of the Governor, may appoint.
   

   75.    Contempt of Court. - (1) In this Article the expression "Court" means the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court or the Chief Court.
   

       (2)    A Court shall have power to punish any person who-
   

   1. abuses, interferes with or obstructs the process of the Court in any way or disobeys any order of the Court;
      
   2. scandalizes the Court or otherwise does anything which tends to bring the Court or a judge of the Court into hatred, ridicule or contempt;
      
   3. does anything which tends to prejudice the determination of a matter pending before the Court; or
      
   4. does any other thing which, by law, constitutes contempt of the Court.
      

   (3)    The exercise of the power conferred on a Court by this Article may be regulated by law and, subject to law, by rules made by the Court.
   

   76.    The Chief Court to superintend and control all courts subordinate to it, etc.- (1) The Chief Court shall superintend and control all other courts that are subordinate to it.
   

   (2)    A Court so established shall have such jurisdiction as conferred on it by law.
   

   (3)    No Court shall have any jurisdiction which is not conferred on it by this Order or by or under any other law.
   

   77.    Advisory jurisdiction. – (1) If, at any time, the Chairman of the Council or the Governor desires to obtain the opinion of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court on any question of law which he considers of public importance, he may refer the question to the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan for consideration.
   

   (2)    The Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court shall consider a question so referred and report its opinion on the question to the Chairman of the Council or as the case may be, the Governor.
   

   78.    Administrative Courts and Tribunals. – (1) Notwithstanding any thing herein before contained, the Council in respect of matters to which its executive authority extends, and the Assembly in respect of matters to which the executive authority of the Government extends may by Act provide for the establishment of one or more Administrative Courts or Tribunals to exercise exclusive jurisdiction in respect of, -
   

   1. matters relating to the terms and conditions of persons who are or have been in the service of Gilgit-Baltistan including disciplinary matters;
      
   2. matters relating to claims arising from tortuous acts of the Council or the Government or any person in the service of Gilgit-Baltistan or of any local or other authority empowered by law to levy any tax or cess and any servant or such authority acting in the discharge of his duties as such servant; or
      
   3. matters relating to acquisition, administration and disposal of any property which is deemed to be enemy property under any law.
      

   (2)    Notwithstanding anything herein before contained, where any Administrative Court of Tribunal is established under clause (1), no other Court shall grant an injunction, maker any order or entertain any proceedings in respect of any matter to which the jurisdiction of such Administrative Court or Tribunal extends and all proceedings in respect of any such matter which may be pending before such other court immediately before the establishment of the Administrative Court or Tribunal shall abate on such establishment.
   

   (3)    An appeal to the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court from a judgment, decree, order or sentence of an Administrative Court or Tribunal shall lie only if the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan being satisfied, that the case involves a substantial question of law of public importance, grants leave to appeal.
   

   79.    Employees of Court.- The Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court and the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court, with the approval of the Governor, may make rules providing for the appointment of employees of the Court and for their terms and conditions of employment.
   

   
    

   PART. XII-SERVICES
   

   80.    Public Service Commission. – There shall be a Public Service Commission for Gilgit-Baltistan which shall consist of such number of members, including a Chairman to be appointed by the Chairman of the Council on the advice of Governor, and perform such functions as may be prescribed on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Governor.
   

   81.    Services. – (1) Subject to this Order, the appointment of persons to, and the terms and conditions of service of persons in the service of Gilgit-Baltistan may be regulated by law.
   

   (2)    Until an Act of the Council in respect of persons in the service of Gilgit-Baltistan employed in connection with the affairs of the Council, or an Act of the Assembly in respect of such persons employed in connection with the affairs of the Government, makes provision for the matters referred to in clause (1), all rules and orders in force immediately before the commencement of this Order, shall continue to be in force and may be amended from time to time by the Council or, as the case may be, the Government.
   

   (3)     Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1) or (2) the position or vacancy sharing formula between the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Government of Pakistan, i.e. Gilgit-Baltistan Civil Service and All Pakistan Unified Grades or District Management Group, shall be as specified in the Fifth Schedule.
   

   82.    Chief Election Commissioner.- There shall be a Chief Election Commissioner to be appointed by the Chairman of the Council on the advice of Governor on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed.
   

   83.    Auditor-General.- (1) There shall be an Auditor General of Gilgit- Baltistan who shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Council.
   

   (2)    Before entering upon office, the Auditor General shall make before the Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan oath in the form set out in the Schedule
   

   (3)    The terms and conditions of service, including the terms of office, of the Auditor-General shall be determined by Act of the Council and, until so determined, by rules made by the Council.
   

   (4)    The Auditor-General shall, in relation to-
   

   (a)    the accounts of the Council and any authority or body established by the Council; and
   

   (b)    the accounts of the Government and any authority or body established by the Government, perform such functions and exercise such powers as may be determined, by or under Act of the Council and, until so determined, by rules made by the Council.
   

   (5)    The accounts of the Council and of the Government shall be kept in such form and in accordance with such principles and methods as may be determined by the Auditor-General with the approval of the Council.
   

   (6)    The reports of the Auditor-General relating to the accounts of the Council shall be submitted to the Chairman of the Council; who shall cause them to be laid before the Council; and the reports of the Auditor-General relating to the accounts of the Government shall be submitted to the Governor who shall cause them to be laid before the Assembly.
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   PART. XIII-GENERAL
   

   84.    Continuance of existing laws.- Subject to the provisions of this Order, all laws which immediately before the commencement of this Order, were in force in Gilgit-Baltistan shall continue to be in force until altered, repealed or amended by an Act, of the appropriate authority.
   

   Explanation.- In this Article.-
   

   (a)    The expression 'laws includes Ordinance, Orders, rules, bye-laws, regulations and any notification and other legal instruments having the force of law, and
   

   (b)    The expression 'in force' in relation to any law, means having effect as law whether or not the law has been brought into operation.
   

   85.    General provision regarding Governor and Ministers.- (1) The Governor, the Chief Minister, a Minister or an Advisor shall not.-
   

   (a)    hold any other office of profit in the service of Gilgit-Baltistan or any other country; or
   

   (b)    occupy any other position carrying the right to remuneration for the rendering of services; but this action shall not be construed as preventing the Governor, the Chief Minister, a Minister or an Advisor from holding or managing his private property.
   

   (2)    No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the Governor or the Chairman of the Council while he is in office.
   

   (3)    No civil proceedings in which relief is claimed against the Governor or the Chairman of the Council shall be instituted while he is in office in respect of anything done or not done, or purporting to have been done or not done, by him in his personal capacity, whether before or after he enters upon his office unless at least sixty days before the proceedings are instituted, notice in writing has been delivered to him, or sent to him, stating the nature of the proceedings, the cause of the action, the name, description and place of residence of the party by whom the proceedings are to be instituted and the relief which he claims.
   

   
    

   (4)    Except in relation to proceedings referred to in clause (3) no process whatsoever shall be issued from any court or tribunal against the Governor or the Chairman of the Council, whether in a personal capacity or otherwise, while he is in office.
   

   (5)    Subject to this Order, the Governor, the Chief Minister, the Chairman of the Council, the Federal Minister who is a member of the Council, a Minister or an Advisor shall not except in respect of anything done or not done by him in contravention of law , be answerable to any court or Tribunal in the exercise of the powers, or the performance of the duties, of his office or for any act done or purporting to be done by him in the exercise of those powers or in the performance of those duties:
   

   Provided that nothing in this clause shall be construed as restricting the right of any person to bring appropriate proceedings against the Council or as the case may be, the Government.
   

   86.    Power to acquire property and to make contracts, etc.- (1) The executive authority of the Government and of the Council shall extend, subject to any Act of the appropriate authority to the grant, sale, disposition or mortgage of any property vested in, and to the purchase or acquisition of property on behalf of, the Government or as the case may be, the Council, and to the making of contracts.
   

       (2)    All property acquired for the purpose of the Government or of the Council shall vest in the Government or, as the case may be, in the Council.
   

       (3)    All contracts made in the exercise of the executive authority of the Government or of the Council shall be expressed to be made in the name of the Governor, or as the case may be, the Council and all such contracts and all assurances of property made in the exercise of that authority shall be executed on behalf of the Governor or the Council by such persons and in such manner as the Governor, or as the case m ay be, the Council may direct or authorize.
   

       (4)    Neither the Governor, nor the Chairman of the Council, shall be personally liable in respect of any contract or assurance made or executed in the exercise of the executive authority of the Government or, as the case may be the Council, nor shall any person making or executing any such contract or assurance on behalf of any of them be personally liable in respect thereof.
   

       (5)    Transfer of land by the Government or the Council shall be regulated by law.
   

   
    

   PART. XIV-EMERGENCY PROVISIONS
   

   87.    Power to issue proclamation.- (1) If the Chairman of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council ,on receipt of a report from Governor of Gilgit- Baltistan or otherwise, is satisfied that a grave emergency exists in which the security of Gilgit-Baltistan is threatened by war or external aggression or by internal disturbances, in which the Government of the Gilgit-Baltistan cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Order, Chairman of the Council shall issue Proclamation of Emergency, hereinafter referred to as the Proclamation.
   

       (2)    Assume to himself, or direct the Governor of the Gilgit-Baltistan to assume on behalf of the Chairman of the Council , all or any of the functions of the Government of the Gilgit-Baltistan, and all or any of the powers vested in, or exercisable by, any body or authority in the Gilgit-Baltistan, other than the Assembly;
   

       (3)    A Proclamation shall be laid before a Joint Sitting of the Council and the Assembly which shall be summoned by the Chairman of the Council on the advice of Governor to meet within thirty days of the Proclamation being issued and-
   

        (a)    shall, cease to be in force at the expiration of two months unless before the expiration of that period it has been approved by a resolution of the Joint Sitting; and
   

        (b)    shall, subject to the provisions of sub-clause (a), cease to be in force upon a resolution disapproving the resolution being passed by the votes of the majority of the total membership of the Joint Sitting.
   

       (4)    Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (2), if ^.the Assembly stands dissolved at the time when the Proclamation is issued, the Proclamation shall continue in force for a period of four months but, if a general election to the Assembly is not held before the expiration of that period, it shall cease to be in force at the expiration of that period unless it has earlier been approved by a resolution of the Council.
   

       (5)    A Proclamation may be made before the actual occurrence of war or external aggression if the Governor is satisfied that there is imminent danger thereof.
   

   88.    Power to suspend fundamental rights.- (1) While a Proclamation is in operation, the Governor may, by order, declare that right to move any Court for the enforcement of such of the rights conferred by Chapter as may be specified in the order, and all proceedings pending in any Court for the enforcement of the rights so specified, shall remain suspended for the period during which the Proclamation is in force.
   

       (2)    Every order made under clause (1), shall, as soon as may be, laid before the Assembly.
   

   89.    Power to vary or rescind proclamation.- (1) A Proclamation issued under Article 87 may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Proclamation.
   

       (2)    The validity of any Proclamation issued or order made under Article 87 or Article 88 shall not be questioned in any Court.
   

   90.    Failure to comply with requirement as to time does not render an act invalid.- When any act or thing is required by this Order to be done within a particular period and it is not done within that period, the doing of the act or thing shall not be invalid or otherwise ineffective by reason only that it was not done within that period.
   

   
    

   PART. XV-MISCELLANEOUS
   

   91.    Oath of office.- (1) An oath required to be made by person under this Order shall be made in a language that is understood by that person.
   

   (2)    Where, under this Order, an oath is required to be made before a specified person and for any reason, it is impracticable for the oath to be made before that person, it may be made before such other person as may be nominated by that person.
   

   (3)    Where, under this Order, a person is required to make an oath before he enters upon an office, he shall be deemed to have entered upon the office on the day on which he makes the oath.
   

   92.     Order not to prejudice stance.- The provision of this Order shall not derogate form, or in any manner prejudice, the declared stand of the Government of Pakistan regarding the right of self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the United Nations Resolutions.
   

   93.    Power to amend.- The Government of Pakistan may, by notified Order, amend the provisions of this Order.
   

   94.    Power to make rules.- The Governor or as the case may be, the Chairman of the Council, may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Order.
   

   95.    Order to override other laws, etc.- (1) The provision of this Order shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of any law for the time being in force except that in case of conflict between the laws of Pakistan and the laws framed under this Order, the laws of Pakistan shall prevail.
   

   (2)    No Court, including the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court and the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court, shall call into question or permit to be called into question, the validity of this Order or an Act to amend it.
   

   96.    Repeal and saving.- (1) The Northern Areas Governance Order, 1994 hereinafter referred to as the said Order, together with the Orders amending it, and the rules made there-under are hereby repealed.
   

       (2)    On the commencement of this Order-
   

   (a)    the Legislative Assembly in existence shall stand dissolved and General Election shall be held within one hundred and twenty days of such commencement; and
   

   (b)    in all documents, proceedings and references, a reference to the expression "Northern Areas" shall mean and be construed as reference to "Gilgit-Baltistan."
   

   97.    Effect of repeal.- Where a law is repealed, or is deemed to have been repealed, by, under, or by virtue of this Order, the repeal shall not, except as otherwise provided in this Order;-
   

   1. revive anything not in force or existing at the time at which the repeal takes effect;
      
   2. affect the previous operation of the law or anything duly done or suffered under the law;
      
   3. affect any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the law;
      
   4. affect any penalty, forfeiture, or punishment incurred in respect of any offence committed against the law; or
      
   5. affect any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment; and any such investigation, legal proceedings or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced, and any such penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be imposed, as if the law had not been repealed.
      

      
       

      ***************
      

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

       FIRST SCHEDULE
   

   OATH OF OFFICE GOVERNOR
   

   [See Article 20(7)]
   

   
    

   I,…………………………….do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Allah;
   

   That, as Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan, I will remain loyal to Pakistan;
   

   That I will perform my functions as Governor honestly and faithfully; and
   

   That I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person any official secret which, may, come to my knowledge as Governor.
   

       So help me Allah.
   

   
    

   
    

   Signature of Governor
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   
    

   Signature of Chief Judge
   

   Supreme Appellate Court, Gilgit-Baltistan
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   CHIEF MINISTER
   

   [See Article 23(4)]
   

   
    

   
    

   I,…………………………….do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Allah;
   

   That, as Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, I will remain loyal to Pakistan;
   

   That I will perform my functions as Chief Minister honestly and faithfully; and
   

   That I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person any official secret which, may, come to my knowledge as Chief Minister;
   

       So help me Allah.
   

   Signature of Chief Minister
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   
    

   Signature of Governor
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   MINISTER
   

   [See Article 24(2)]
   

       
   

   
    

   I,…………………………….do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Allah;
   

   
    

   That, as Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, I will remain loyal to Pakistan;
   

   That I will perform my functions as Minister honestly and faithfully; and
   

   That I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person any official secret which, may, come to my knowledge as Minister;
   

       So help me Allah.
   

   
    

   
    

   Signature of Minister
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   Signature of Governor
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan
   

   
    

   
    

   SPEAKER OR DEPUTY SPEAKER OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
   

   [See Article 42(2)]
   

   
    

   I,…………………………….having been elected as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Allah;
   

   That I will remain loyal to Pakistan;
   

   That I will perform my functions as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly honestly and faithfully; and
   

   That I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person any official secret which, may, come to my knowledge as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the Assembly;
   

       So help me Allah.
   

   
    

   Signature of Speaker/Deputy Speaker
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   
    

   Signature of Outgoing Squeaker /Sitting Speaker
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly
   

   MEMBER OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
   

   [See Article 36]
   

   I,…………………………….having been elected as Member of Gilgit- Baltistan Legislative Assembly do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Allah;
   

       That I will remain loyal to Pakistan;
   

       That I will perform my functions as Member of the Legislative Assembly honestly and faithfully; and
   

       That I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person any official secret which, may, come to my knowledge as Member of the Legislative Assembly;
   

       So help me Allah.
   

   Signature of Member
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   Signature of Speaker
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   MEMBER OF GILGIT-BALTISTAN COUNCIL
   

   [See Article 33 (11)]
   

   I,…………………………….having been elected as Member of Gilgit- Baltistan Council do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Allah;
   

       That I will remain loyal to Pakistan;
   

       That I will perform my functions as Member of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council honestly and faithfully; and
   

       That I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person any official secret which, may, come to my knowledge as Member of the Council;
   

       So help me Allah.
   

   
    

   Signature of Member
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   Signature of Chairman/Vice Chairman
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan Council
   

   
    

   CHIEF
   JUDGE/JUDGE OF GILGIT – BALTISTAN
   

   SUPREME APPELLATE COURT
   

   [See Article 60(6)]
   

   
    

       I,…………………… .having been appointed Chief Judge of Gilgit -Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court do solemnly swear and I will bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan and that I will faithfully perform the duties of my office to the best of my ability, knowledge and judgment and will administer justice according to the law in force Gilgit- Baltistan, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
   

   
    

   
    

   Signature of Chief Judge/Judge
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   
    

   Signature of Governor/Chief Judge
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   OATH OF CHIEF JUDGE/JUDGE OF
   

   GILGIT-BALTISTAN CHIEF COURT
   

   [See Article 69(8)]
   

   
    

       I,…………………… .having been appointed Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court do solemnly swear that I owe allegiance to Allah and that I will faithfully perform the duties of my office to the best of my ability, knowledge and judgment and will administer justice according to the law in force in the Areas comprising Gilgit-Baltistan, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
   

   Signature of Chief Judge/Judge
   

   
    

   Place
   

   Date
   

   
    

   Signature of Governor/Chief Judge
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   OATH OF ADVISOR
   

   [See Article 33 (14)]
   

   
    

   I,……………………………. do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Allah;
   

       That I will remain loyal to Pakistan.
   

       That I will perform my functions as Advisor honestly and faithfully; and
   

       That I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person any official secret which, may, come to my knowledge as Advisor;
   

       So help me Allah.
   

   
    

   
    

   Signature of Advisor
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   
    

   Signature of Chairman of Council
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan
   

   
    

   
    

   AUDITOR-GENERAL
   

   [See Article 83]
   

   
    

       I,…………………….do hereby solemnly swear and bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan.
   

   That, as Auditor-General of the Areas comprising Gilgit- Baltistan, I will perform my functions honestly, faithfully, in accordance with the Gilgit - Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Government) Order, 2009, and the law and to the best of my knowledge, ability and judgment, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
   

   Signature of Auditor General
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   
    

   Signature of Chief Judge of Supreme Appellate Court
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan
   

   
    

   
    

   CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER
   

   [See Article 82]
   

   
    

       I,…………………….do hereby solemnly swear and bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan.
   

   That, as Chief Election Commissioner of the Areas comprising Gilgit- Baltistan, I will perform my functions honestly, faithfully, in accordance with the Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Government) Order, 2009, and the law and to the best of my knowledge, ability and judgment, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
   

   
    

   Signature of Auditor General
   

   Place
   

   Date
   

   
    

   
    

   Signature of Chief Judge of Supreme Appellate Court
   

   Gilgit-Baltistan
   

   
    

   SECOND SCHEDULE
   

   [See Article 37(2)(d)]
   

   
    

   1.    An office, which is not a whole time office remunerated either by salary or by fee.
   

   2.    The office of Lamberdar, Inamdar, Sufedposh and Zaildar, whether called by this or any other title.
   

   3.    The office of the Chairman of any elective body constituted under any law relating to the Local Government.
   

   4.    Reserve of the Armed Forces.
   

   5.    Any other office which is declared by an Act of the Assembly not to disqualify its holder from being elected as, or from being a member of the Assembly.
   

   
    

   
    

   THIRD SCHEDULE
   

   
   COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE LIST
   

   [See Article 47(2) (a)]
   

   1.	Post and telegraphs, including telephones, wireless, broad-casting and other like forms of communications; Post Office Saving Bank.
   3.	Public debt of the Council, including the borrowing of money on the security of the Council Consolidated Fund.
   4.	Council public services and Council Public Service Commission.
   5.	Council pensions, that is to say, pensions payable by the Council or out of the Council Consolidated Fund.
   6.	Administrative courts for Council subjects.
   7.	Council agencies and institutions for the following purpose, that is to say, for research, for professional or technical training, or for the promotion of special studies.
   8.	Nuclear energy, including.- (a) mineral resources necessary for the generation of nuclear energy; (b) the production of nuclear fuels and the generation and use     of nuclear energy; and (c)     ionizing radiations.
   9.	Aircraft and air navigation; the provision of aerodromes; regulations and organization of air traffic and of aerodrome.
   10.	Beacons and other provisions for safety of aircraft.
   11.	Carriage of passengers and goods by air.
   12.	Copyright, inventions, designs, trade marks and merchandise marks.
   13.	Opium so far as regards sale for export.
   14.	Banking, that is to say, the co-ordination with the Government of Pakistan of the conduct of banking business.
   15.	The law for insurance and the regulation of the conduct of insurance business.
   16.	Stock-exchange and future markets with object and business not confined to the areas comprising Gilgit-Baltistan. .
   17.	Corporations, that is to say, the incorporation regulation and winding up of trading corporations including banking, insurance and financial corporations, but not including corporations owned or controlled by the Provincial Government of Gilgit-Baltistan and carrying on business, co-operative societies, and of corporations, whether trading or not, with object not confined to the Gilgit-Baltistan, but not including universities.
   18.	Planning for economic coordination, including planning and coordination of scientific and technological research.
   19.	Highways, continuing beyond the territory of the Gilgit-Baltistan excluding roads declared by the Government of Pakistan to be strategic importance.
   20.	Council surveys including geological surveys and Council meteorological organizations.
   21.	Works, lands and buildings vested in, or in the possession of the Council, for the purpose of the Council (not being Military, Naval or Air Force works), but as regards property situated in the Gilgit-Baltistan, subject always to law made by the Legislative Assembly, save in so far as law made by the Council otherwise provides.
   22.	Census.
   23.	Establishment of standards of weights and measures.
   24.	Extension of the powers and jurisdiction of members of a police force belonging to the Gilgit-Baltistan or any Province of Pakistan to any area in such Province or the Gilgit-Baltistan, but not so as to enable the police of the Gilgit-Baltistan or such province to exercise powers and jurisdiction in such Province or the Gilgit-Baltistan without the consent of the Government of that Province or the Gilgit-Baltistan; extension of the powers and jurisdiction of members of a police force belonging the Gilgit-Baltistan or a Province of Pakistan to railway areas outside the Gilgit-Baltistan or that Province.
   25.	Election to the Council.
   26.	The salaries, allowances and privileges of the members of the Council and Advisors.
   27.	Railways.
   28.	Mineral oil natural gas; liquids substances declared by law made by the Council to be dangerously inflammable.
   29.	Development of industries, where development under Council control is declared by law made by Council to be expedient in the public interest.
   30.	Removal of prisoners and accused persons from the Gilgit-Baltistan to Pakistan or from Pakistan to the Gilgit-Baltistan.
   31.	Measures to combat certain offences committed in connection with matters concerning the Council and the Government and the establishment of police force for that purpose or the extension to the Gilgit-Baltistan of the jurisdiction of police force established in Pakistan for the investigation of offences committed in connection, with matters concerning the Government of Pakistan.
   32.	Prevention of the extension from the Gilgit-Baltistan to Pakistan or from Pakistan to the Gilgit-Baltistan of infections or contagious diseases or pests affecting men, animals or plants.
   33.	Boilers.
   34.	Electricity and bulk water storage.
   35.	Newspapers, books and printing presses.
   36.	Works, lands and buildings vested, or in the possession of Government for the purpose of Gilgit-Baltistan Council (not being air force, military or navel works) save in so far as the Council Act otherwise provides.
   37.	Curriculum, syllabus, planning, policy, centers of excellence and standards of education.
   38.	Sanctioning of cinematography films for exhibition.
   39.	Tourism.
   40	Forest.
   41	Minerals and Mineral Wealth.
   42.	Duties of customs, including export duties.
   43.	Duties of excise, including duties on salt but not including duties on alcoholic liquors, opium and other narcotics.
   44.	Taxes on income other than agricultural income.
   45.	Taxes on corporations.
   46.	Taxes on the sale and purchases of goods and services imported, exported, produced, manufactured or consumed.
   47.	Taxes on the capital value of the assets, not including taxes on capital gains on immovable property.
   48.	Taxes and duties on the production capacity of any plant, machinery, under taking, establishment or installation in lieu of the taxes and duties specified in entries 42 and 43 or in lieu of either or both of them.
   49.	Terminal taxes on goods or passengers carried by railway or air, taxes on their fares and freights.
   50.	Fees in respect of any of the matters enumerated in this list, but not including fees taken in any court.
   51.	Jurisdiction and powers of all courts with respect to any of the matters enumerated in this list.
   52.	Offences against laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in this list.
   53.	Inquires and statistics for the purpose of any of the matters enumerated in this list.
   54.	Matters which under the Act are within the legislative competence of the Council or relates to the Council.
   55.	Matter incidental or ancillary to any of the matters enumerated in this list.

   FOURTH SCHEDULE
   

   ASSEMBLY LEGISLATIVE LIST
   

   [See Article 47 (2) (b)]
   

   1. Public order (but not including the use of Naval, Military, Air Force, or any other armed forces of the Federation in aid of the civil power).
      
   2. Preventive detention for reasons in connection with the maintenance of public order; persons subjected to such detention.
      
   3. Prisons, reformatories, borstal institution and other institutions of a like nature and persons detained therein, arrangements with other provinces for the use of prisons and other institutions.
      
   4. Land, that is to say, rights in or over land; land tenures, including the relation of landlord and tenant, and the collection of rents; transfer, alienation and devolution of agricultural land; land improvement and agricultural loans; colonization.
      
   1. Land revenue, including the assessment and collection of revenue, the maintenance of land records, survey for revenue purpose and records of rights and alienation of revenues.
      
   2. Works, lands and buildings vested in or in the possession of the Gilgit-Baltistan Administration.
      
   1. Compulsory acquisition or requisitioning of property.
      
      1. Agriculture, including agricultural education and research protection against pests and prevention of plant diseases.
         
      1. Local Government, that is to say, the constitution and powers of municipal corporations, improvement trusts, district councils settlement authorities and other local authorities for the purpose of local self-government or village administration.
         
      2. Preservation, protection and improvement of stock, and prevention of animal diseases; veterinary training and practice.
         
      3. Pounds and the prevention of cattle trespass.
         
      4. Drinking water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments; flood control.
         
      5. Libraries, museums and ancient and historical monuments.
         
      6. Botanical, zoological and anthropological surveys.
         
      7. Theaters; cinemas; sports; entertainments and amusements.
         
      8. Public health and sanitation; hospitals and dispensaries.
         
      9. Registration of births and deaths.
         
      10. Burials and burial grounds; cremations and cremation grounds.
          
      11. Relief of the disabled and un-employed.
          
          1. Intoxicating liquors, that is to say, the production, manufacture, possession, transport, purchase and sale of intoxicating liquors and other narcotic drugs.
             
          2. Markets and fairs.
             
          3. Money lending and moneylenders; relief of indebtedness.
             
          4. Protection of wild animals and birds.
             
          5. Prevention of cruelty to animals.
             
          6. Adulteration of food-stuff and other goods.
             
          7. Betting and gambling.
             
          8. Fisheries.
             
          9. Professions.
             
          10. Inns and in-keepers.
              
          11. Orphanages and poor houses.
              
          12. Taxes on agricultural income and on the value of agricultural land.
              
          13. Lunacy and mental deficiency including places for reception of treatment of lunatics and mental deficient.
              
          14. Duties in respect of succession to agricultural land.
              
          15. Estate Duty in respect of agricultural land.
              
          16. Taxes on lands and buildings.
              
          17. Taxes on advertisement.
              
          18. Taxes on goods and passengers carried by road or on inland waterways.
              
          19. Taxes on vehicles, whether mechanically propelled or not, suitable for use on a road; on boats, launches and steamers on inland water; on tram cars.
              
          20. Taxes on animals and boats.
              
          21. Tolls.
              
          22. Capitation taxes.
              
          23. Taxes on luxuries, including entertainments and amusements. Taxes.
              
          24. Taxes on profession, trades, callings and employment.
              
          25. Relief of poor; un-employment.
              
          26. Offences against laws with respect of any of the matters in this list.
              
          27. Inquiries and statistics for the purpose of any of the matters in this list.
              
          28. Cesses on the entry of goods into a local area for consumption, use or sale therein.
              
          29. The salaries, allowances and privileges of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Minister, Ministers and Members of the Assembly.
              
          30. Dues on passengers and goods carried on roads or inland water-ways.
              
          31. Management of Gilgit – Baltistan Consolidated Fund.
              
          32. Environmental pollution and ecology.
              
          33. Population planning and social welfare.
              
          34. The setting up and carrying on of labour exchanges, employment information bureaus and training establishments.
              
          35. Regulation of labour and safety in mines and factories.
              
          36. Trade unions; industrial and labour disputes.
              
          37. Gilgit–Baltistan public services and Public Service Commission.
              
          38. Gilgit–Baltistan pensions, that is to say, pension payable out of Gilgit–Baltistan Consolidated Fund.
              
          39. Administrative Courts for subjects within purview of Gilgit – Baltistan Legislative Assembly.
              
          40. Gilgit–Baltistan agencies and institutions for the following purpose, that is to say, for research, for professional or technical training, or for the promotion of special studies.
              
          41. Fees in respect of any of the matters enumerated in this list, but not including fees taken in any court.
              
          42. Jurisdiction and powers of all Courts with respect to any of the matters enumerated in this list.