ALAIWAH!

 FLORIDA BAR PRESIDENT URGES RESTORATION OF THE RULE OF LAW IN PAKISTAN
 ”Recent events in Pakistan should deeply disturb every member of the legal profession, and indeed anyone who cares
about the rule of law in our world. I condemn the removal of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the arrest of many local bar leaders, and attacks on the Pakistani legal community at large. An independent bar and judiciary are absolutely vital to all lawful societies. I encourage my colleagues in The Florida Bar to join me and urge others to speak out for the immediate restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan.”

FRANCISCO R. ANGONES, Attorney-at-Law
President
The Florida Bar (TFB)
Tallahassee, FL, USA
November 9, 2007
http://www.floridabar.org

Statement of the Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA) President
Recent events in Pakistan attacking the rule of law through the suspension of that nation’s Constitution, the detention of several members of the Pakistan Supreme Court, and the
physical attacks and arrest of more than 1,500 Pakistani lawyers, represent an unwarranted and historic attack on the rule of law.

The Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA) joins the American Bar Association [ABA] and state and local bar associations throughout the United States in condemning these actions.

The existence of an unfettered independent judiciary is essential to the administration of justice and to the existence of any lawfully elected government. An impartial and independent judiciary is the cornerstone of any democracy, and efforts to manipulate the judicial system, in the name of terrorism, cannot be accepted by a free society.

The HSBA calls upon all of its members, and all of the citizens of the State of Hawaii, to condemn these unlawful actions and to support the brave efforts of Pakistani lawyers and judges who are placing their own personal safety at risk by leading the resistance to this unacceptable interference in the administration of justice.

JEFF PORTNOY, Attorney-at-Law
President
Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA)
Honolulu, HI, USA
November 9, 2007
http://www.hsba.org

DEFENDERS of the RULE of LAW

By W. THOMAS PROCTOR, Attorney-at-Law
President, Houston Bar Association (HBA)
Houston, TX, USA
http://www.hba.org
A few weeks ago, I had the honor to be invited by United States District Judge Gray Miller to participate in a
naturalization ceremony, as individuals emigrating from nations around the world became citizens of the United States. For almost all of these new citizens, it was the culmination of years of hard work and the realization of a dream. If you feel for even a moment there has been an occasion where you have taken the privilege of citizenship for
granted, I recommend attending one of these ceremonies, where you will no doubt be reinvigorated, whatever your perspective on immigration issues. You cannot help but be moved by the unadulterated joy of people as they enthusiastically take on those rights and responsibilities of citizenship in this great country they have long sought to make their home.

I was thinking of that moment as the recent events in Pakistan unfolded. Invoking the necessity of dealing with religious extremism, Pakistan’s military leader, Pervez Musharraf, declared a state of Emergency and in the process suspended the country’s Constitution. Apparently, to Musharraf’s way of thinking, the fight against terrorism required the removal of the Pakistani Supreme Court
as well. Interestingly, a day earlier, the Court had said, “No threat will affect the Bench, whether it is Martial Law or Emergency,” amid reports Musharraf might so act upon hearing the Court’s awaited ruling on the validity of his recent election victory. It took but one day.

Despite Musharraf’s ban on free assembly, the lawyers of Pakistan took to the streets united in support of the Constitution and the rule of law. The world witnessed these lawyers taking a stand at great personal risk. The military’s response was fierce. Thousands have been arrested and jailed. It took tremendous courage and self-sacrifice to do what those lawyers did to speak out for the rule of law.

In the words of Vietnam War veteran and University of Arkansas Law Professor Michael Mullane: “When you get right down to it, the rule of law only exists because enough of us believe in it and insist that everyone, even the nonbelievers, behave as if it exists. The minute
enough of us stop believing, stop insisting that the law protect us all, and that every single one of us is accountable to the law – in that moment, the rule of law is gone.”

We are justifiably proud of our adherence to the rule of law in this country. As lawyers, however, the events in Pakistan give us an interesting opportunity to ask ourselves what we would be willing to
do to protect our rule of law, thankfully on a much different scale.
What would we be willing to suffer? At what cost to our livelihood? At
what risk to our personal wellbeing?

How secure are we in our faith in and commitment to the rule of law?
Are we firm and convicted in our beliefs, as long as it does or does
not hit us in the wallet? Do we silently stand by and accept
disrespect for the rule of law, attacks on our judiciary and
intrusions on the right to trial by jury? Do we not fear an endless
barrage of attacks on lawyers will erode the confidence of the public,
not only in the legal profession but in our legal system as a whole?

Undoubtedly, there are a number of reasons that individuals from other
countries choose to become citizens of our nation. Most certainly,
economic opportunity is one of the reasons for many, but I firmly
believe the protections afforded by our rule of law is another.

Regardless of one’s personal politics, we as lawyers know we must
remain ever vigilant and always committed to ensuring the rule of law
is at the very foundation of our country. I prefer the interpretation
of the often-cited Shakespeare line, “The first thing we do, let’s
kill all the lawyers,” as an acknowledgment that lawyers are the front
line defense against anarchy. If not the lawyers, then who will speak
out when the rule of law is at risk?
By Attorney-at-Law MICHAEL B. TERRY
Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore, LLP
Atlanta Bar Association (ABA) Secretary and Chair of the Litigation Section

HRF: http://www.JusticeForum.info

The world has been inspired by the courage of an army of lawyers, fighting for the rule of law. These lawyers are fighting not in the stuffy confines of the courtroom
with legal arguments and briefs, but on the streets, with fists and stones, for the restoration of the rule of law.

On November 3, 2007, General Musharraf declared a
state of Emergency. In addition to imposing sweeping restrictions on opposition parties and the media, Musharraf suspended the Constitution, dissolved the Supreme Court and the four provincial High Courts, and detained eight members of the Supreme Court. On November 5, 2007, thousands of attorneys took to the streets of several Pakistani cities, protesting these actions by Musharraf and demanding
the restoration of the rule of law.

This is not the first time that Pakistani attorneys have demonstrated en masse to defend the rule of law. In March of 2007, the suspension, detention and attempted dismissal of the Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry by Musharraf gave rise to large but peaceful demonstrations by attorneys in several cities. Unfortunately, the government did not allow the November 5 demonstrations to remain peaceful.

Instead, the demonstrating lawyers were attacked by large numbers of police officers in several cities, demonstrating an orchestrated plan to silence the attorneys. Attorneys were beaten with batons, sprayed with teargas, beaten with fists and arrested by the thousands. Opposition groups estimate that 3500 were arrested on the first day of protests alone. The Musharraf government puts the number at over 2000.

In some locations, the attorneys fought back. Witnesses described fierce battles, with attorneys throwing stones at the police who attempted to break up the protests. But in the end, thousands  of beaten and bleeding attorneys were literally dragged to police vans and taken away.

On November 5, 2007, photographs of the bloody clashes between police in riot gear and attorneys in business attire ran in virtually every media outlet in the world. But the demonstrations were not over, nor were the lawyers deterred by the beatings and mass arrests. On November 6, 2007, the suspended Chief Justice of Pakistan urged the attorneys to continue their protests. Again, thousands of lawyers took
to the streets. Again, violent clashes with police resulted in several cities. More than 50 attorneys were arrested in a single city on November 6, 2007, adding to the toll from November 5, 2007. By some media estimates, one-fourth of all of Pakistan’s lawyers were imprisoned by the end of the day of November 6, 2007. No courts were open for the lawyers to petition for release. But the demonstrations
continue.

The courageous stand for the rule of law by Pakistan’s lawyers, in the face of physical attacks and arrests, has galvanized opposition to the Musharraf’s emergency decrees within Pakistan and around the world. Leaders of many nations have demanded the reinstitution of a constitutional government. American Bar Association (ABA) President
William H. Neukom issued a statement that “the government’s actions in Pakistan are a threat to the rule of law, and especially to an independent bar and judiciary, everywhere…. An independent bar and judiciary are a cornerstone of all lawful societies. It is essential, at a time when lawyers and the rule of law are under attack in
Pakistan, that we work together to respond in a forceful and effective manner.”

The impact on society from attacks on an impartial and independent judiciary have long been known. Alexander Hamilton wrote that “the independence of the judges once destroyed, the Constitution is gone, it is a dead letter; it is a vapor which the breath of faction in a moment may dissipate.” Attacks on the impartiality and independence of the judiciary are evident and increasing in this country and this state. That which is required of our bar to address the current threats to judicial impartiality is far less than what the lawyers of
Pakistan have faced so bravely. Yet, Hamilton might have been speaking directly to the lawyers of Pakistan when he wrote that “there is no motive which induced me to put my life at hazard through our revolutionary war, that would not now as powerfully operate on me, to put it again in jeopardy in defence of the independence of the judiciary.”

The actions of these Pakistani lawyers provoke fundamental questions that every American lawyer should ask of himself or herself: What are you doing to support and bolster the rule of law and the freedom and impartiality of the courts against the current assaults? What would you do if the Constitution were suspended and the courts closed in this American nation? Do you have the courage of that bloodied band
of Pakistani lawyers? Or, with apologies to Edmund Burke, would you choose to do nothing and let evil prevail?

http://www.AtlantaBar.org