C THE JUVENILE JUSTICE LEGAL FRAMEWORK IS NOT GIVEN RETROSPECTIVE FORCE The JJSO was not expressly enacted retroactively. Therefore, juvenile offenders sentenced to death before 2001 were left with no recourse to the protection from the death penalty. However, the President of Pakistan issued Notification No. F.8/41/2001-Ptns dated 13.12.2001 (Notification) in exercise of his powers under Article 45 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973. As per this notification, special remission under Article 45 is to be granted to all juveniles sentenced to death whose sentences were confirmed by the High Court before 17 December 2001, and their death sentence is to be commuted to life imprisonment. The relevant part of the Presidential Notification reads as under: "The death sentence of those condemned prisoners who were Juvenile as defined in the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000 at the time of commission of offence stands converted to life imprisonment provided that the death sentence has been awarded under Tazir and not Qisas or under other Hudood Laws." Under the Notification, the special remission on the death sentence to life imprisonment was to accrue on the basis of an inquiry to determine age by an executive committee constituted specifically for this purpose. The executive committee was to include “an expert, Home Secretary, I.G Prisons and Superintendent of the Jail where the condemned prisoner is housed”. However, the operation of this notification subsequently became the subject of proceedings before the Supreme Court in case titled Ziaullah vs. Najeebullah [PLD 2003 SC 656]. The Court held that: “The President of Pakistan has allowed special remission... to the juvenile offenders who were below 18 years at the time of commission of the offence to claim the benefit... [and we] hold that the Committee constituted by the Home Secretary, Government of Punjab for purpose of determining age of an accused... has no lawful authority to do so… the matters can be referred to concerned Sessions Judge, who also exercises powers of Juvenile Court." The Supreme Court opined that questions relating to the determination of age in terms of Section 7 of the JJSO “can only be determined by a judicial forum for it is a question of fact which can be settled judiciously for the purpose of treated the accused to be a juvenile offender” and that such an exercise of judicial function cannot be exercised by an executive committee. On 18 August 2003, the Government of Punjab issued a letter to the Registrar of the Lahore High Court setting out the eligibility criterion for the special remission for juveniles under the Presidential Notification.35 The letter stated that all juvenile offenders were entitled to remission if their death sentences were confirmed by the High Court before 17 December 2001. The letter confirmed that such remission was to accrue automatically without the need for the submission of a mercy petition under Article 45 of the Constitution. Attached with a letter was a list of juveniles with regards to whom the responsibility was placed on the Home Department to forward their claims to “the concerned District and Sessions Judge/Juvenile Court through the concerned Superintendent Jail.” The letter additionally directed the Superintendent of all jails to intimate the condemned prisoners claiming special remission under the Notification to approach the respective Courts and vested them with the responsibility of informing the Home Department of the outcome of the court. 35 Government of the Punjab, Home Department, Grant of Special Remission Under Article 45 of the Constitution to Condemned Prisoners, (Aug 19,2003) 19 DEATH ROW’S CHILDREN