US Supreme Court Ruling and the precedent for the world (especially Pakistan)

By Yasser Latif Hamdani

The Supreme Court of the United States ("SCOTUS") has ruled that Obamacare is constitutional. The  "Court held that the individual mandate, which requires that virtually all Americans either obtain health insurance or pay a penalty by 2014, is constitutional."

This is no doubt a historic decision for the US and for President Obama. The SCOTUS ruled that the Congress had wide powers under the commerce clause but it upheld the law under taxing power of the Congress i.e. the penalty to be imposed is a tax against not paying for health insurance.  Indeed this would have a major impact on the impending elections which the sisterblog of this website http://2012electionsus.blogspot.com/ will be looking at in some detail in the coming future.

However my interest - as a Pakistani lawyer- is in the persuasive precedent this historic ruling sets for the rest of the world and in particular Pakistan and also Egypt, the two Muslim majority states also grappling with the issue of judicial overreach at the moment. In Pakistan a democratically elected and relatively secular government has been the direct victim of judicial overreach. Chief Justice of Pakistan, Chaudhry Iftikhar, has disqualified the former Prime Minister, Mr. Yusuf Raza Gilani for not initiating proceedings against President Asif Ali Zardari despite the fact that such an action is constitutionally barred in clear language of the constitution. In Egypt a secular judiciary has thrown out an Islamist parliament.
 

US Supreme Court's latest term: Defending Free Speech and Big Business

By Yasser Latif Hamdani

It is instructive for lawyers everywhere to read the media commentary on the performance of Bush appointee Justice Roberts' court in the term that just ended.

I was especially struck by New York Times' commentary yesterday. Adam Liptak wrote in the aforesaid newspaper:

The Supreme Court term that ended Monday was marked by accomplishment and anticipation. The court continued its work on two signature projects of Chief Justice John Roberts: defending free speech and curbing big lawsuits. And it dropped occasional hints about the blockbusters on the horizon... In cases involving the nation’s largest private employer, Wal-Mart, and the nation’s second-largest cellphone company, AT&T Mobility, the court tightened the rules for class actions and made it easier for companies to do away with class actions entirely by using form contracts. All of the decisions this term were scrutinized for clues about the arc of the Roberts court as it settles into a period of consolidation and awaits a series of colossal cases, notably the challenges to the health care law championed by President Barack Obama. This term was significant, but the next one may include the most important clash between the Supreme Court and a president since the New Deal.