Daily Times

Sir: What is generally known is that Pakistan faces a range of profound governance and economic challenges to its development. In the past, the institutions of justice have been degraded and this has impaired the quality of judicial services.

Pakistan has experienced unbalanced power structures and frequent changes in government, which has disturbed the judicial system as well which has, in turn, led to a loss of public confidence in the institutions of justice despite the best efforts of many dedicated judges.

This malaise is manifest in a complex of related problems. Most notably, this includes the monstrous backlog of cases that have been pending for disposal with the courts for the last five, 10 and even 25 plus years.

These problems, which are now deeply entrenched, required substantial long term interventions to resolve. The endemic delays of the Pakistani court system are caused in part by chronic under-resourcing, but in another part by archaic and inefficient work practices.

In 2002, the Pakistani government implemented a judicial reform that cost $ 350 million funded through a loan provided by the Asian Development Bank to ensure that the public could benefit from better judicial services being provided by improved efficiency in the administration of justice and the speedy disposal of cases.

Initiatives have been taken to introduce continuing on-the-job training for judges throughout the country in order to improve judicial competence. Four study tours were conducted for more than 30 judges and court administrators to other common law jurisdictions including Britain, Canada, the US, Australia and Singapore under the Access to Justice Programme.

Needless to say, it is beyond any doubt that Pakistan needs a real and independent judiciary. The judiciary should recognise its responsibility to speed up the judicial process and provide justice only on merit as per the constitution of Pakistan. The government and the chief justice are requested to save the public who have been suffering in finding justice and spend their savings on paying the huge fees of lawyers and the cost of litigation but are not getting timely justice.

NADEEM ZIA

Romford, United Kingdom