Artificial Insemination in Pakistani Law and Recommendation of FSC.

ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION IN PAKISTANI LAW:

                      

ARTIFICIAL iNSEMINATION IN pAKISTANI laW.

Legal status of AIH and AID in Pakistani law:

                        

           Pakistan is an Islamic country, which has inherited most of the laws from British India. After independence, the state has made a body in the form of Federal Shari’at court to Islamize the existing laws. There was another body established in the name of Council Islamic Ideology (CII), which gives opinion according to Islamic law in different issues. Legal status of Test Tube baby is an important issue that is discussed in CII, 2013; The council approved the practice of Test Tube babies among the spouses. The issue of Test Tube baby has been analysed in Federal Shari'at Court in detail. The issue of test tube baby was brought before the Federal Shari at Court in the case of Farooq Siddiqui. Farooq Siddiqui was a doctor by profession and his wife was unable to bear child. He hired another woman named Farzana to be a surrogate mother and a false statement of marriage was pronounced because of the reaction from society. After the birth of the child, Mrs. Farzana refused to hand over the baby to Farooq Siddiqui. He filed a case for the custody in the court of Guardian Senior Civil Rawalpindi. The case was dismissed and the custody was not given to him. He filed another petition of surrogacy and claimed that the respondent is the surrogate mother and she was paid for the process. The contract between the parties was made oral, so the petitioner had no legal document to present before the case. The case was admitted by Federal Court on the bases of the following issues:

 The questions that involved in the above case are follow: 

         As to whether the agreement executed between the parties for producing a child as a surrogate mother is in accordance with the Injunctions of Qur’an and Sunnah?
If it's likely that the agreement is lawful contract beneath the Contract Act, whether or not identical would even be in accordance with the Injunctions of Qur’an and Sunnah? In absence of any law if a baby is produced by a surrogate mother under which law the custody of that minor is to be governed? 
If there’s the other question raised by the parties.”
The court declared that, “if a is born via mechanical/scientific process, wherein the sperm belongs to the real father and the egg to the real mom and the kid is born via way of means of the real mom the technique could be legal and lawful ”.It clarified, however, that in all other cases, “the surrogacy procedure would be unlawful and against the injunctions of the Qur’an and sunnah ”. The court also directed for appropriate amendments in Section 2 of the Contract Act, 1872 and in Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).The court suggested for addition of clauses in the PPC regarding the definition of surrogacy, and punishments with imprisonment and fine. There shall be punishments for the couple that arranges a surrogate, the surrogate herself, as well as the doctor who keeps the sperm bank or egg bank, and to those who carry on the surrogacy procedure. The court ordered that license of any doctor involved in the un-Islamic procedure of surrogacy should also be cancelled. 

Recommendation by Fedral Shariat Court: 

                        

Artificial Insemination - Recommendation by Federal Shariat Court.

Federal Shariat Court recommends the following considerations:

The parliament of Pakistan should make the laws to stop the cases of surrogacy and recommend medical ethics for the doctors to stop AID. The Council of Islamic Ideology shouldclearly give decision regarding Artificial Insemination and medical treatment. The Judiciary should clearly state the issue of inheritance for the child born through AIH. The government should ensure proactive role by the Council of Islamic Ideology in this regards.