Daily Times

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa said Saturday that not every citizen of the country needs to agree with the court’s rulings but justice being served should be apparent in the decisions.

“Every citizen has the right to disagree with the decisions of judiciary. It isn’t necessary that the citizens concur with [the decisions] but justice should be seen being done in judicial decisions,” the top judge said while addressing the ceremony for the launch of the Federal Judicial Academy’s e-campus in Islamabad. He said that the academy was working under a strong board and its success is the success for everyone.

CJP Isa added that the practice of taking every matter to the Supreme Court (SC) must end. He stressed the need to raise the status of the lower courts in order to reduce the burden on courts higher up. “This concept that has developed in the country, of taking virtually every matter right up to the SC before one is satisfied, must come to an end if we want this system to survive,” he said. He noted that the first point of contact with a litigant is not the SC or high courts, but rather a civil judge or judicial magistrate, which is why their status must be raised so that their ruling is “acceptable to peers and superiors”.

He said that the academy brings together judges from different provinces and regions on a single platform where they can share their experiences and ideas with each other. He further stated that he feels satisfied by seeing the use of modern technology in the judicial academy.

The top judge said that live coverage of the hearings of the cases gives the viewers, especially the students, an opportunity to learn, the top judge said while commending the live hearing of the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act case. “Live coverage gives people the confidence that justice is being served,” CJP Isa said.