A two-day meeting of the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee was held on 27-28th April, 2012, in the Committee Room of High Court of Sindh. The Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan/Chairman, National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC) presided over the meeting. In his introductory remarks, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan stated that provision of expeditious and inexpensive justice to all segments of society is the first and foremost priority of the judiciary as provided in the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He further stated that undoubtedly, the Judges are making extra efforts to meet this constitutional requirement and after implementation of National Judicial Policy visible improvements have been noticed in the disposal of cases. He further stated that consistently increasing institution rate speaks about the confidence of the people in the ability of judiciary for resolution their disputes.
The meeting was attended by the Hon’ble Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice of Pakistan/Chairman, NJPMC, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan, Chief Justice, Federal Shariat Court, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Chief Justice, High Court of Balochistan, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Mushir Alam, Chief Justice, High Court of Sindh, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Chief Justice, Lahore High Court, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dost Muhammad Khan, Chief Justice, Peshawar High Court.
Besides, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Iqbal Hameed Ur Rehman, Chief Justice, Islamabad High Court, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of AJ&K, Mr. Justice Rana Muhammad Arshad Khan Chief Judge, Supreme Appellate Court Gilgit-Baltistan, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, Chief Justice, High Court of AJ&K, and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Raja Jalal-Ud-Din, Chief Justice, Chief Court Gilgit-Baltistan attended the meeting as observers on special invitation of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan.
The performance of the District Judiciary was reviewed in the meeting. The statistics presented by the District & Sessions Judges showed that the District Judiciary of all the four provinces performed very well and more than 90% old cases have been decided after enforcement of Policy. The District Judiciary Balochistan in particular did very well. It is currently poised to decide any civil or criminal case within a period of 4 to 6 months from the date of filing of a suit or complaint which is a remarkable achievement. In the same way, the District Judiciary of other provinces and Islamabad has also decided a large number of cases and there are number of Sessions Divisions where no oldest case is pending adjudication. The Committee was informed that at the time of launching National Judicial Policy the judge case ratio was 1:1860 and now after implementation of Policy and strict monitoring the judge case ratio has been decreased considerably. In province of Balochistan the judge case ratio is 1:32 and in Khyber Pukhtonkhawa 1:293, in Sindh 1:309 which is reasonable. In Punjab 1:1020 and Islamabad Capital Territory is 1:1392, though this figure is higher as compare to other provinces; however, considerably less than the pendency when the Policy was launched i.e. 1:1860. It happens due to better performance of Courts. The Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan and Members of the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee highly appreciated the hard work performed by the District Judiciary and praised the District and Sessions Judges of Peshawar, Karachi West, and Islamabad for showing good results.
The Committee observed that it is the obligation of the State to ensure inexpensive and expeditious justice under article 37(d) of the Constitution. Realizing the sensitivity of problems being faced by an ordinary litigant caused due to delay in dispensation of justice. The Committee decided that the number of the judges of the district judiciary be immediately increased in order to allay the concerns of an ordinary litigant and to meet the challenges of growing population and economy. It is further decided that Federal and Provincial Governments shall make financial allocations for increase in the strength of judges including allied staff and related infrastructure in the forthcoming budget.
The Committee observed that another factor for delayed disposal of cases is the scattered Courts of special federal and provincial Tribunals/Courts. Therefore it is decided that such courts/tribunals be conveniently located in single judicial complex in every city. This will provide justice under one-roof for the convenience of the litigant, as well as, the bar and will go a long way in reducing unnecessary delays caused due to lawyers attending to various courts located at different places in a city. Additionally it will also reduce cost borne by the public exchequer.
The Committee observed that cases related to public revenues are not properly pursued which occasioned in losses of public money. The Committee decided that authorities may proceed to recover public revenues where there is no stay order granted by any Court or has expired by efflux of time as provided under Article 199(4A) of the Constitution. It is further decided that efforts shall be made by courts to decide such cases within a period of six months in order to meet the
constitutional requirements. The Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan directed that in next fifteen days all High Courts and District Courts should identify all public revenue cases and fix them for urgent hearing.
It is also decided that all High Courts shall adopt the Case Flow Management System developed by High Court of Sindh subject to further improvement as recommended by NJAC.
The Committee observed that dispensation of justice is most serious affair; therefore, qualitative aspect of disposal should not be over sighted because after all the rights and entitlement of people are sacred and to be determined in accordance with law by applying utmost care and caution. The Committee decided that to ensure quality and speedy justice, on going training and capacity building programs should be launched for judicial officers and other stakeholders of the justice sector.
The Committee noticed that besides other reasons, delay in receipt of forensic reports also causes delay in disposal of criminal cases. Therefore, in order to overcome delay in disposal of criminal cases, well equipped Forensic Science Laboratory(ies) shall be established in each Province and Islamabad Capital Territory.
During the meeting, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Supreme Court of AJ & K and Chief Judge, Chief Court of Gilgit-Baltistan informed that similar difficulties are being faced by Courts in AJ&K and Gilgit Baltistan. Analyzing the impact of National Judicial Policy on the administration of justice in other provinces of Pakistan, the Hon’ble Chief Justices decided to adopt the National Judicial Policy and other decisions of the NJPMC with necessary modifications.
The Committee also considered the jail inspection reports furnished by the District & Sessions Judges and asked the concerned authorities to improve the living condition in jails and address all the problems highlighted by the District & Sessions Judges during their fortnightly visits.
The Committee also considered the recommendations of Bhurban Conference on Environmental Laws and appreciated the efforts of High Courts regarding establishment of green benches to deal with cases related to environment. The Committee also approved the recommendations of International Judicial Conference held at Islamabad in April, 2012.
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