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Parliament declared invalid ‘Child Rights Protection Law’
AT News
KABUL: The Wolesi Jirga or lower house of Parliament on Saturday declared as invalid the Child Rights Protection Law, despite it has been recently approved, and called for a legal review of the measures.
On December 9, the Wolesi Jirga approved a legislative decree on the draft Child Rights Protection Law but the administrative board of the house on Saturday said its findings showed the quorum was incomplete on the day of voting and thus the approved law was rendered invalid.
Abdullah Baig, a lawmaker form Takhar province, provided information in this regard, saying there were only 102 lawmakers present on the day of voting on the Child Rights Protection Law while at least 126 lawmakers are needed to decide about legislative matters.
Amir Khan Yar, first deputy speaker, who chaired today’s session, also said that internal duties of the house and law were violated on the day of voting and the Child Rights Protection Law was invalid.
He said the law should be legally reviewed and then added to the agenda of the lower house for decision.
However, Lawmaker Ghulam Hussain Nasiri, who is proponent and supporter of the law, didn’t accept the findings of the delegation while stressing that the law had passed the necessary steps for being approved.
Moreover, a number of legislators accused the administrative board of incompetence with regard to taking decisions over crucial laws.
In addition to the Child Rights Protection Law, the lower house also invalidated the law on regulating local councils which was approved last Wednesday despite some disagreements over some of its articles.
This comes as according to reports, the Child Rights Protection Law was added to the Wolesi Jirga agenda four times over the last four years, but could not be approved due to differences over the article 3 of the law.
Someone under 18 years of age is defined as a child by article 3 of the law. However, opponents of the article say the article is in conflict with Islamic rules and constitution of the country.
