Government, law and justice
The government’s Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) bill raises a number of uncomfortable questions that nobody in the PML-N is answering. Who thought it appropriate, for example, to have 23 members of the honourable House decide upon an extremely controversial and disputed phenomenon for around 200m people? What does it say about those reforms in the judiciary we’ve been expecting since the Chaudhry ‘revolution’? And, most importantly, what of that clause in the constitution that guarantees proper equal legal rights to all citizens?
If the bill proves anything in black and white, it is that our sacrosanct judiciary is broken down beyond repair, at least for the near to medium term. There is no way really that the enormous backlog – built over decades – can ever be overcome. And there’s only so much that can be said of stories of influence – personal, political and institutional – and reports of corruption that plague the institution. Promises of reforms have rung so hollow for so long that nobody even makes any claims anymore. But for the government to set off in another direction altogether amounts, in effect, to a direct dereliction of duty.
To give credit where it is due, ADR is a tried and tested phenomenon in some parts of the world not unlike ours – where the conventional courts system is either overwhelmed, incapable or plain incompetent. But the regressive and often criminal nature of our jirga and panchayat system was, primarily, what led to calls and then shrieks for judicial reform in the first place. Unable to leverage the law, a vast majority is forced into the clutches of the old tribal system. Often, periodically, governments have made efforts, or at least decided in principal, to outlaw this system altogether. For PML-N to push the ADR initiative so mysteriously through the House now will win it few friends, especially in the Senate dominated by the PPP.
How can those who lack even rudiments of justice, have no knowledge of law, incapable of impartiality, cannot be held accountable for malpractice be entrusted with dispute resolution, when honesty and integrity is a very rare virtue in Pakistani society. The concept works in the west because people are highly educated, aware of their rights and by and large honest. Implementation of such a concept in Pakistan is quite frankly laughable. If the government cannot provide affordable and proper justice to the people, a fundamental prequist in a democracy, its has lost the moral and electoral authority and trust to rule.
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