He was briefing journalists about the amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) at the secretariat yesterday.

The law minister said if the amendment to CrPC bill is passed by parliament, the act would come into force after framing the rules by the president according to the constitution.

Until the framing of the rules, the magistracy will run in the current manner until December 31, 2012 or until the Judicial Service Commission appoints the required number of judicial officers, the minister explained.

He said the power of the deputy commissioners' (DCs) will not be curbed and the magistrates will retain their executive power. But after the separation of the judiciary, only the judicial magistrates will be involved in the judicial work while the executive magistrates will perform the administrative duties, he said.

The minister said the cabinet has approved in principle the amendment to CrPC exactly in keeping with the Supreme Court's draft. The bill is expected to get the cabinet nod next week, after which it would be sent to parliament.

The law minister said the judiciary has already been separated in different countries including Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh has also made a lot of progress in doing the same.