Speakers at a session titled "dialogue with media on rule of law reforms" held here on Friday under the aegis of Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) suggested extensive police reforms to strengthen rule of law in the Sindh. Dr Shoaib Suddle, a member of PILDAT's committee of experts, said police has got greater role to enforce rule of law in the country and hence there is a need to enhance capacity of police force which require adequate funding.
Underscoring the need for increasing the strength of police in the country by 15 per cent, he said that the police-population ratio should be brought at par with UN standard of 1:450, while the investigation costs must be provided to facilitate the investigation process. Elaborating, he said that the per capita per annum spending on police in Sindh is $12 as against Indian Punjab's spending of around $16. The existing annual budget allocation for Sindh police is Rs 54.08 billion for a population of around 43 million.
Referring to an amendment in Section 154 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, he said the amended Section 154 of Cr. P.C. is to ensure that after registration of FIR, subsequent actions by police must be on the basis of solid reasons/evidence to be brought on record by police officer(s) concerned. He said that a provincial Criminal Justice Co-ordination Committee, headed by Sindh High Court's Chief Justice, should be formed while its members should include IG Police, Interior Secretary, Secretary Law, Secretary Prosecution and a representative of Pakistan Bar Council.
Dr Suddle also suggested that all FIRs, recorded in simple language, should be available online and computerised and be, simultaneously, sent to the prosecution service so as to involve the latter in the case from the beginning. He said FIRs should not form the basis for immediate arrest of the persons named in them. Another member of PILDAT's committee of experts, Muhammad Ali Nekokara said that the existing forums provided for under the present legal framework have not been able to fulfil the requirements for free legal aid as per the constitutional requirement.
On this occasion, he floated he idea of setting up legal aid authorities both at the federal and provincial levels to monitor and supervise the work of public defender services. He recommended that a law should be enacted at both the federal and provincial levels on the pattern of Public Defenders and Legal Aid Office Ordinance that had already lapsed.
Highlighting the media's role in strengthening rule of law, he said: "Media as a watchdog should raise public awareness to inform needy litigants about free legal aid services available at various levels. In areas of low literacy, television and radio are more effective means to educate people about how they can avail free legal aid services and get access to justice.
"As an agenda-setter, media can increase demand for reforms in order to make the political executive, judicial/legal community and other relevant authorities responsive to their roles regarding free legal aid delivery and access to justice. The panellist of experts urged the journalists to play their role in convincing parliament, provincial assemblies, federal and provincial governments for establishment of public defender services as well as for carrying out necessary legislative reforms. Dr Sohail Shahzad, Ahmad Bilal Mehmood, members of the Sindh Assembly - Sorath Thebo and Mehmood Abdul Razzaq, and journalists also spoke on the occasion.
Comments
Comments are closed.