At present, we have very vibrant, effective, efficient and competent superior judiciary whereas our lower judiciary has still to go a long way to achieve the desired destination.
The desired destination is: timely dispensation of justice which is indeed a cardinal principle of justice. How can subordinate courts, especially the civil courts, provide speedy justice when they don’t have qualified and skilled court personnel?
Only the other day, I had an opportunity to visit a few friend advocates in the bar associations in the twin cities. I was utterly disappointed that neither senior lawyers nor budding and not even students of law were evincing any real interest in their subject – law.
I vividly remember my school days when I used to visit my friends advocates in Larkano Bar Association where I used to hear and observe the senior lawyers contributing to the development of law. I used to observe students of Law College Larkano who used to come, sit in courtrooms and take notes. But now this practice is on the wane. It is, indeed, pitiable.
Indeed, cooperative efforts at lower levels are necessary to provide speedy justice to the litigant public. The lower judiciary is facing a plethora of problems and those must be addressed, especially the shortage of competent manpower in the courts.
Besides this, an academy of lawyers like the judicial academy for judges, at least at the federal level, may be established where young lawyers are imparted training in the relevant subjects, in particular, in professional ethics, morality and emerging trends in the legal and judicial profession.
It is an imperative need of the hour to set up such an academy. Or, the Federal Judicial Academy may also be given such a mandate with requisite amendments in its charter and for this government must come forward immediately. The stronger the bench and bar both intellectually and professionally, the stronger the democratic institutions will be in the country.
HASHIM ABRO
Islamabad