Those who are talking of a constitutional package for reforming judiciary need to take note of the alleged irregularities and violations of code of ethics. The manner in which the vacancies were filled in the judiciary following the 2nd Nov 2007 removal of the judiciary has created some doubts. I would like to ask a few queries from Pakistan Bar Council and honourable members of the judiciary, about some apprehensions that litigants are encountering. Do ethics allow a Judge to hear a case in which one of the advocates is a person with whom the judge has served as an assistant or a partner in a law firm, prior to his appointment as a judge? Should a lawyer appear before a judge who has served under him as an assistant or in case the lawyer has served as a former Attorney General and had been instrumental in his appointment as a judge? Can a lawyer, if he has represented a person in a previous case, appear against him in another case representing another party against his former client? If there is a code of ethics that govern judges and lawyers, how is it enforced, because these violations are occurring daily even in various High Courts. As a litigant it is very difficult to take the risk of annoying a judge, for fear of reprisals by other members of the bench. A procedure needs to be adopted, where litigants can put their valid objections in strict confidentiality. -M. TARIQ, Lahore Cantt., via e-mail, May 1.