KABUL - Meshrano Jirga, or upper house of parliament, on Monday unanimously approved a bill on the authority of the judiciary and its composition and another legislative measure on narcotics with some amendments.
Already endorsed by the Wolesi Jirga, the government-introduced bill says the Supreme Court shall interpret constitutional provisions on the authority of the judiciary and its composition.

Legislative Commission member Abdul Qayyum told Pajhwok Afghan News the lower house had amended the draft law, empowering the Independent Commission for Oversight of Implementation of the Constitution (ICOIC) to interpret the constitution. "The upper house also passed that amendment."

About the further changes by the upper house, he said the bill placed military tribunals under the Supreme Court, but the Senate separated the two organs. Under article 122 of the Constitution, military courts did not fall in the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, he explained.

The house approved another bill on narcotics and their control. Another member of the Legislative Commission, Mohammad Hassan Hotak, said the house only changed Article 63 of the proposed law that says a person sentenced by a special anti-narcotics court should serve two-thirds of his term in the capital and the remaining time in his native province.

The Senate amended the clause, giving detainees the choice whether or not they want to serve the remaining term in their native provinces. (Pajhwok)