Daily Times

It can be argued that the rule of law has become indispensable for maintaining peace and political stability leading to economic progress in society. Effective performance of government institutions, maintenance of peace, development of resources and administration of justice, human security and protection of liberty and equality of all citizens depend on the level of implementation of rule of law in society. Rule of law reduces administrative corruption, eliminates malpractices, and protects people from injustices by protecting them from various maladies including red-tapism and abuse of discretionary powers. It improves hierarchical structure, a delegation of powers and other principles of administration to execute public policy efficiently, economically, and expeditiously.

Professor Dicey gave a classical explanation of rule of law in his book “Law of Constitution” published in 1885. It states that law is supreme, and nobody is superior to the laws of the state. Professor Dicey’s concept is based on three principles. First, the rule of law means that no person can be punished until and unless he is proved guilty of violating the law. For instance, in the case of illegal detention, courts are empowered to examine the grounds of detention under writ jurisdiction. Secondly, rule of law means that nobody is above the law. Everyone, whatsoever his rank or position is subject to the ordinary law. Both government officials, as well as private individuals, are accountable under the law. Thirdly, the rule of law refers to judicial decisions that determine the rights of private persons in particular cases brought before the courts. It is the duty of judges to safeguard the inviolable rights and liberties of people. This notion establishes the equality of all citizens before the courts of law and ensures the protection of human rights and property rights. It also rationalises the fair and efficient process of implementation, administration and adjudication of law adopted for the dispensation of impartial, affordable, and accessible justice without delay. Further, it encourages the resolution of disputes on the grounds of natural justice, equity, and fairness, in the cases of recognizable rights.

Weak enforcement of rule of law provides space for criminals and elite offenders to enjoy impunity.

According to the World Justice Project (WJP), Rule of Law index 2021, Pakistan is ranked at 130, which indicates that Pakistan is one of those few countries where there is the weakest adherence to rule of law. Despite having constitutional procedures and conventions, rule of law has not yet been fully implemented and as a result, the country grapples with a governance crisis.

Weak enforcement of rule of law provides space for criminals and elite offenders to enjoy impunity. Thus, the primary duty of the government is to establish the supremacy of law by discouraging the legacy of the authoritarian way of powerful elites dealing with public institutions. Progress regarding the enforcement of rule of law cannot be quantified. However, the level of institutional loyalty to the state and its constitution, decisions of courts, instant relief to aggrieved persons, control over cognizable and non-cognizable offences, the performance of urban and rural policing, level of juvenile delinquency, public order handling and nature of bureaucratic attitudes indicate the extent of the rule of law in our society. Cooperation among all stakeholders including political leaders, academic and research scholars, civil and military bureaucracy, print and electronic media, social media, lawyers, and members of civil society can significantly improve the systematic execution of laws. Nevertheless, rule of law can only be established by removing lapses in the criminal justice system and by ensuring across-the-board accountability of all without sparing sacred cows.

Weak and toothless institutions cannot achieve the tasks including protection of life and property of people and their belated response provide open ground to the offenders for violating the law of land. To restore the credibility of institutions, the government should take concrete steps to strengthen the institutional capacity and empower them to protect the life and liberty of people and their fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan. Pakistani society has not yet been liberated from the clutches of slavery of the feudal mindset. Women, children and poor workers face a lot of violence and unfair treatment in society mainly because of the lack of rule of law. In the absence of rule of law, the local power elites dominate the society by subjugating the poor masses. Feudal lords have strong connections with bureaucracy and police, and they use these state organs for their gains. Thus, feudalism has emerged as one of the biggest obstacles to the way of enforcement of rule of law. Lack of awareness among people about their constitutional rights also causes the poor implementation of rule of law. Luckily, our media has become a boisterous watchdog and thus can educate the masses about the fundamental rights of people and motivate them to respect rule of law and highlight the need for making of new laws by parliament to deal with the new problems and emerging situations as an outcome of technological change in society.

There are some disturbing trends in Pakistani society. The middle-class is not strong across Pakistan and still succumbs to opportunism and greed. It lacks principled and incorruptible leadership. The lower strata of society in our country are engaged in fighting one another over tribe, ethnicity, caste and creed, or other such related issues. This is the reason why the upper-class elites can easily exploit the middle and lower classes. Enforcement of rule of law can protect communities against various forms of exploitation and intimidation. Thus, the state should develop a long-term strategy for effective execution of rule of law to regulate the relationship between various classes.

Rule of Law provides the means to maintain law and order and it helps to create social control. It strengthens the beliefs of people in the supremacy of law and provides an opportunity for all people to have access to justice. In this way, it prevents the flagrant violation of laws and reduces the sense of deprivation among people regarding injustice which tends to destabilise peace and harmony in society. We are facing a big challenge of terrorism and religiously inspired acts of violence, militancy, and extremism. Thus, the state needs to establish a rule of law and demonstrate zero tolerance towards hate narratives which are disseminated through different platforms of media to trap our youth via cyberspace which has been used as a source of spreading extremist ideas and religious intolerance. In some cases, incarcerated militants keep continuing to spread extremist hate messages behind the bars. Government must act against the already banned organisations by stopping them from disseminating hate speeches. Thus, the communication network of these extremist outfits and their ‘string-pullers’ must be dismantled by freezing their financial transactions. Further, the militants must be dealt with according to provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Judiciary can play important role in creating supremacy of law and preventing abuse of executive authority. Article 184 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973 provides that the supreme court has original jurisdiction in any dispute between any two or more governments. Article 185 gives authority to the court to hear and determine the appeals from judgements, decrees, final orders, or sentences of a high court. Further, it has advisory jurisdiction for giving an opinion on any legal matter. Like US supreme court Pakistan’s supreme court has also the power of judicial review. It can declare the laws null &void in case these laws are repugnant to the constitution. The Supreme court not only interprets the constitution, but also safeguards it. Further, it interprets the laws enacted by the legislature and enforced by executive authority. In Pakistan like most other developing countries higher judiciary in the absence of strong accountability and check & balance system, exercises the ‘countervailing power’ to check the bureaucratic abuse of power.

The extent of rule of law is one of the key indicators for evaluating the performance of a democratic government. Both the civil and military institutions should collaborate to establish rule of law by working within the constitutional framework. Judiciary can ensure rule of law by increasing the efficiency of the justice system. It is required to improve the civil and criminal justice system to restore public confidence in the administration of justice. Moreover, people who believe in the reign of law rise above their religious, political, ethnic and class affiliations in support of monocracy.

The writer is Professor and Director (Pakistan Study Centre, University of Sindh, Jamshoro) and can be reached at shuja.mahesar@usindh.edu.pk