Judicial reforms are an urgently needed prerequisite for internal peace and stability in Pakistan, as the collapse of law and order and rising lawlessness is caused by the fact that the criminals and defaulters know very well that if they are caught, they can get the police’s favour by greasing their palms and their cases would be decided after a protracted delay and highly paid lawyers will save them.
It is often observed that the judges of the subordinate judiciary and even the superior courts are influenced by these heavyweight lawyers. These senior counsels are given patient and lengthy hearings by courts. Although Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has blocked the way of the ‘doctrine of necessity’ by the authoritative judgment of 31st July 2009, but in past, the espousal of the ‘doctrine of necessity’ by the superior courts annihilated democracy in Pakistan, which is an internationally known juristic aberration, which also highly contributed to the lawlessness and instability in the country.
Talk shows and debates are arranged on electronic media around the clock against the nuisance of rising incidents of terrorism and lawlessness. However, the primary issue which can contribute to overcoming these nuisances is not debated. Strict implementation of existing laws by judicial reforms can help a lot in overcoming rising crime rates, lawlessness and corruption.
The judicial policy of 2009, which was considered a drastic judicial reform and a panacea for all judicial ills, has failed to deliver as it is not being implemented in letter and spirit at the district judiciary level.
While diagnosing social malaise in the country, it is ignored that unless the functioning of courts is improved, overhauled and expedited, the law and order problems would persist leading to increased murder, corruption, disputes, car theft and robbery etc. The bane of the courts management is the tardiness of the dispensation of justice to culprits. The core issue of crime and punishment is the expeditious awarding of penal measures to criminals so as to rid civil society from the festering sores of lawlessness and increasing terrorism.
According to senior lawyers including Akram Sheikh, Hamid Khan, Mushtaq Chaudhry, Tariq Mahmood and Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, the significant flaws of the judicial system in the country can be enumerated as: The judges being overburdened because of courts being understaffed and many vacancies left unfilled; The legal processes being tardy because of generous adjournments accorded at the level of subordinate judiciary as well as high courts due to which the disposal of cases remained regrettably minimal.
To pressurise the judiciary, the government does not allocate adequate budgetary allocations for day to day administration of the courts and meeting their immediate and dire financial needs, despite the huge income that arises from the court fees received from the litigants. The case management is archaic in spite of the modern technological advances in computerisation, E-governance and quick case citation through the use of the internet and modern data storage systems.
A lot of time is wasted in the superior courts by the lawyers in reading out texts of cases, or the law, whereas in developing countries such citations are supplied on floppies or CDs to the honorable judges. The system of bailiff and process serving is fraught with corrupt practices and the notices or summons are not served in order which delays the cases’ progress. Most of the precious time of the courts is consumed in repeating services which are both time and money-consuming and warrant immediate reform in the light of modern day courier services.
It is unfortunate that our postal communication has miserably collapsed and courier services in the private sector are fast and reliable. If suits or decrees are passed, they are not executed as the execution machinery is antiquated and not in sync with the latest judicial developments. Only paper decrees (as in several banking cases) are passed, which take several years for implementation which is discouraging for the banking sector in terms of monetary waste and financial blockade. Criminal cases are not disposed of in time because of the lack of vigilance of the courts in connivance with the police officials.
The offenders of law are sure to dodge and evade the due process of law because of the complicity of police officials, lethargy of courts and manipulation of lawyers. The detainees languish in prisons due to lack of timely legal aid and gross corruption in police departments and lower criminal courts. Neither police reforms (mere eye wash) nor the superintendence of the courts can accelerate the dispensation of justice unless the judges are appointed on merit and through fair selection.
The regulation of judges through Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) or High Courts’ inspection teams is deplorably disappointing and merely for cosmetic public consumption. Only widely notorious judges are nabbed for corrupt practices. The whole nation expects justice and redressal for their grievances from the Supreme Court, because the disposal of cases in the Supreme Court is swift, as the paper books containing the entire material are placed before the judges and they take little time in grasping the facts and grounds.
The Supreme Court also does not grant any adjournments and the judges sacrifice their summer vacations to clear the backlog of pending cases. There is no fall in the standards of the judges of the Supreme Court. They do not favour the heavyweight lawyers with political backing. The lawyers believe that to improve the working of the judiciary, the first and foremost recommendation is the discouragement of the liberal adjournments granted by the subordinate courts and high courts. They said many commissions on judicial and police reforms had been set up but their approach and methodology was not pragmatic and alien to the current milieu. They said although the judicial policy of 2009 had the potential to make the entire judicial system transparent, it needed to be implemented in letter and spirit. They also believe that there is a dire need of judicial and police reforms and implementation of judicial verdicts to establish the rule of the law and make the country progressive and prosperous.
very authentic
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