Daily Times

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said on Friday that no institution could progress without the training of its human resource.

While addressing an award distribution ceremony after the conclusion of a trainers programme at the Punjab Judicial Academy (PJA), the chief justice stressed that judiciary was a performance-based institution and hence would run on the basis of progressive performance.

He said that before posting in the field, every new judicial officer shall undergo a six-month extensive per-service training programme based on knowledge, skill and attitude (KSA) to ensure that professional, competent and expert judicial officers in the field.

The chief justice said that the judicial officers who would attend the training programmes shall be evaluated by a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation mechanism and the reports thereof shall become part of their service record, which shall be taken into account in the matter of promotions and transfers.

He also apprised the participants that by means of an all-encompassing in-service training programme formally called the ‘general training programme’, set to commence in October this year, every judicial officer in the district judiciary and a major chunk of staff of the district judiciary shall undergo training in the next year.

Shah also said that by deploying the video link technology, PJA would conduct weekly lectures for the entire judiciary of Punjab. He also explained that within a span of a year, PJA would publish bench books related to law, thereby enabling the judicial officers to adjudicate upon the rights of people with more confidence.

He said that the weaknesses present in a system could only be improved through efficient learning and training. He appreciated the efforts of PJA, saying that the academy had a future in redefining justice delivery system of the province.

The chief justice said that in an unprecedented move, PJA had now turned to improve the skill and attitude of the judicial officers by adopting the KSA approach, adding that PJA was a nourishing ground for future trainers and that the vacant seats of faculty members would be filled very soon, as full force of the faculty was required to generate maximum output of the academy.

The ceremony was also attended by Lahore High Court officiating registrar Sardar Tahir Sabir, PJA Director General Uzma Chughtai, Centre for Judicial Studies Australia Director Dr Livingston Armytage, and European Union’s Punjab Access to Justice Project Team Leader John Lipton.