View source for Anti Terrorism Court of Pakistan

The '''Anti Terrorism Court''' ({{lang-ur|عدالت انسداد دہشتگردی}}, ATC) was established in [[Pakistan]], under [[Nawaz Sharif]]'s government, to deal with terrorism cases.

== 1997 creation and subsequent amendments ==
It has been created by the 1997 Anti-Terrorist Act, amended on 24 October 1998 by the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance following the [[Supreme Court (Pakistan)|Supreme Court]] judgement (''[[Merham Ali versus Federation of Pakistan]]'', 1998) declaring most of its provisions unconstitutional.<ref name=CKennedy>[[Charles Kennedy (political scientist)|Charles H. Kennedy]], [http://www.apcss.org/Publications/Edited%20Volumes/ReligiousRadicalism/PagesfromReligiousRadicalismandSecurityinSouthAsiach16.pdf The Creation and Development of Pakistan’s Anti-terrorism Regime, 1997–2002] in [http://www.apcss.org/Publications/Edited%20Volumes/ReligiousRadicalism/ReligiousRadicalismandSecurityinSouthAsia.pdf Religious Radicalism and Security in South Asia] (Satu P. Limaye, Robert G. Wirsing, Mohan Malik, eds.), p.387-413 (a publication of the [[Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies]], Honolulu, Hawaï, Spring 2004).</ref> A short time before being ousted out of power by [[Pervez Musharraf]]'s [[1999 Pakistani coup d'état|coup]], Sharif enacted the 25 August 1999 Pakistan Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance which generalized the ATC system to all of the country.<ref name=CKennedy/>

== Anti-terrorism courts under General Pervez Musharraf ==
Following [[Pervez Musharraf]]'s [[1999 Pakistani coup d'état|1999 coup]], Nawaz Sharif was judged and given a life sentence in 2000 by the ATC, which was commuted into [[exile]].

ATC [[capital punishment in Pakistan|sentenced to death]] in 2006, Kamran Atif, an alleged member of [[Harkat-ul Mujahideen al-Alami]] who had attempted to assassinate Musharraf in 2002, and had been arrested two years later. Following Musharraf's resignation in 2008, a moratorium on capital punishment has been enacted, although it is not completely respected.

== See also ==
*[[Anti-terrorism legislation#Pakistan]]
*[[Human rights in Pakistan]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/document/actsandordinences/anti_terrorism.htm Pakistan Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance, 1999]

{{Judiciary of Pakistan|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti Terrorism Court Of Pakistan}}
[[Category:Terrorism in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Court system of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Nawaz Sharif administration]]
[[Category:Counter-terrorism in Pakistan]]


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