Events Overview
Publicly and formally, the Lahore Tax Bar Association (LTBA) confronted the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) regarding reported threatening behavior directed toward a Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) member, a tax lawyer.
The SCBA member was engaged in an accountability case against FBR tax authorities for alleged corruption and maladministration. The LTBA reported FBR officials were threatening the lawyer and were attempting to intimidate and compel the lawyer to abandon legal work hostile to the FBR. LTBA requested the relevant authorities and the government to impose sanctions against the officials for their threats, and asked for The implicated FBR employees to be sanctioned or suspended, The provision of a written apology to the lawyer, and The registration of an FIR under the threatened and interposed Lawyers Welfare and Protection Act, 2023. The Lawyers Welfare and Protection Act, 2023 The act came into force in Pakistan provides protections for lawyers against harassment, threats, or any form of interference while performing their professional legal duties .The Act prohibits the threat and intimidation of legal practitioners and their defenses. It applies to all, including government actors. There are legal actions, inclusive of criminal charges, that are put in place to provide legal redress and to guarantee the safety of the actors.
Why It Matters
1. What Lawyers Encounter While Settling Hypothetical Cases
The lawyers litigating high-stake legal matters may receive threats, as it is the case for advocates of the highest court. This scenario demonstrates the seriousness of the threats even in legal matters bordering on high level legal corruption, tax evasison, and government maladministration. Threats of this nature are meant to achieve silence and, most dangerously, a complete absence of accountability.
2. Impact of Legislation
The Lawyers Welfare and Protection Act, 2023 serves to acknowledge the greater risks lawyers face while working on matters of scandals and provide the necessary, albeit, still vulnerable legislative shield. The mere existence of legal provisions is largely impotence unless positive actions are carried out by law enforcement.
3. What this Means for Lawyers
Most importantly this serves as a reminder that lawyers working on state capture matters, while carrying out their duties, may be subjected to intense threats designed to achieve complete and utter vicious accountability and silence .Lawyers have to know their rights, like those under the 2023 Act, and prepare to document any incidents of intimidation and pursue legal action. When analyzing casework, lawyers might have to evaluate casework related risks such as institutional push back and possible violence and prepare for them by connecting with bar and support associations.
Wider Implications
The LTBA’s call for action clearly states that lawyers are not isolated and reassures them that bar associations are willing to advocate for their rights. If there is a legitimate response from the authorities, it would bolster the rule of law, as well as the principle of legal accountability to which applies to everyone, including the powerful. Not responding to the demand would result in the erosion of public trust in the justice system which would in turn lead lawyers to be more risk averse in their casework. This would undermine the entire accountability system.
Conclusion
Recent threats to a Supreme Court Bar Association lawyer by FBR officials illuminate the dangers posed to legal practitioners who stand against powerful entities in Pakistan. Despite the Lawyers Welfare and Protection Act, 2023 being enacted to protect lawyers from harassment, intimidation, and coercion, the implementation of such laws requires enforcement accountability thereon. This weak incident enforcement of such laws continues to showcase the expectation of active parliamentary response to inaction with legal threats. Whether it be for the protection of a directly affected advocate's right to advocacy or the more broadly the enforcement of a guaranteed legal right, the protection of lawyers must be provided if the rule of law, accountability, and a transparent justice system are to be upheld.
