(ii) DENIAL OF AGE DETERMINATION INQUIRIES UNDER THE PRESIDENTIAL NOTIFICATION Since the Juvenile Justice Systems Ordinance 2000 was not enacted retrospectively, the President of Pakistan on 13 December, 2001 issued a Notification stating that any prisoner who had their death sentences confirmed prior to the introduction of the JJSO, but in whose cases there existed evidence that they were juveniles at the time of committing the alleged offences, should be granted a “special remission” and have their death sentences commuted. Such remission was to accrue on the basis of an inquiry into their age by provincial-level executive committees constituted specifically for this purpose. However, the operation of the Notification subsequently became the subject of proceedings before the Supreme Court in the case titled Ziaullah v. Najeebullah (PLD 2003 SC 656). The Court opined that questions pertaining to determination of age could only be decided by relevant Sessions courts under the JJSO. Thereafter, the executive committees were dissolved. In 2003, the Punjab Government declared in a circulated letter that all juvenile offenders were entitled to remission if their death sentences were confirmed by the High Court before 17 December, 2001. Attached with the letter was a list of juveniles incarcerated in Punjab who were entitled to this remission. Despite the existence of the Notification and the letter by the Government of Punjab, juveniles sentenced prior to the enactment of the JJSO continue to be denied its protections.68 Requests by prisoners and/or family members for an inquiry regarding their juvenility under the Presidential Notification continue to be denied by the provincial Home Departments and the Courts. An analysis of case studies reveals that there is simply a lack of awareness regarding the effect of the Notification amongst the provincial home departments and the Sessions judges who are responsible for its implementation. The list of condemned juveniles attached with the Government of Punjab, Home Department’s letter included details of 28 prisoners from Punjab, 10 of whom had been tried by Anti-Terrorism Courts. According to information acquired by Justice Project Pakistan at least 4 of the prisoners have been executed, three have been released and at least one is still serving his sentence. Similarly following the issuance of the Presidential Notification, the Office of the Superintendent of Central Jail Karachi, Sindh sent a letter on 9 August, 2004 to the Anti-Terrorism Court, Karachi seeking age determination inquiries for 6 prisoners under the Notification. The letter stated that “this office has received the instructions of the Home Department, Government of Sindh through Inspector General of Prisons Sindh to refer the matter to the Honourable Juvenile Court concerned for the determination of the ages of the condemned prisoners in accordance with section 7 of the Juveniles Justice System Ordinance 2000.” However, the Anti-Terrorism Court, Karachi on 2 September, 2004 dismissed the request of the Government of Sindh on the reasoning that as the accused had not raised their juvenility before any trial and/or appellate court they had lost the right to agitate the plea at this stage. This was despite the fact that during the time of their conviction the JJSO had not been promulgated and no such plea was available at their disposal. As a result, none of the 6 juvenile offenders identified by Government of Sindh have been granted an age determination inquiry to which they are entitled under the Presidential Notification 2001. 68 See Death Row’s Children, 19. TRIAL AND TERROR 27