Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights has established environmental tribunals at Balochistan and NWFP with the allocation of Rs 11.268 million for the fiscal year 2004-05.
The environmental tribunals are part of the policy actions envisaged under Access to Justice Programme (AJP) of Ministry of Law to improve service delivery by justice institutions, said a press release here on Sunday.
The tribunals, established under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (Pepa) 1997, will safeguard the environmental rights of the people of Pakistan.
The Act provides for the protection, conservation, rehabilitation and improvement of the environment, for the prevention and control of pollution, and for promotion of sustainable development.
At present, the process for staffing the tribunals is under way. The summaries for the appointment of chairperson of NWFP and Balochistan environmental tribunals have been submitted to the Prime Minister secretariat.
In order to develop the capacity of environmental tribunals under AJP reforms, Federal Judicial Academy has also designed training courses for the tribunal judges and other staffs.
In the provinces of Punjab and Sindh the environmental tribunals are already working.
The tribunals are established in line with the agreement between the Government of Pakistan and Asian Development Bank under the AJP.
The programme aims to integrate access to justice issues into the larger development debate in the country.
In its current phase, AJP is focusing five core policy themes, including performance, legal empowerment and education, public safety and prosecution, administrative justice and fiscal reforms.
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