Overhauling the judicial system

The superior judiciary in this country is often criticized for failure to streamline the affairs of subordinate courts, leading to inordinate delays in the administration of justice. Speaking at a judicial conference in Karachi the other day, Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar said the system needs a major overhaul. For that he threw the ball in the court of the executive and the legislature, citing reasons for the delays that are indisputable. Lack of infrastructure facilities and shortage of judicial officers, he said, are the two main reasons behind the delay in disposal of cases. And further that access to modern technology could help reduce the volume of pendency cases, but the facility is unavailable except in Punjab.
Explaining how these factors play out in practice, he said, judicial officers are overburdened as around 150 cases come up for hearing before a judge on a day-to-day basis. It, of course, is humanly impossible for one individual to give a fair hearing to so many cases and dispose them of in a timely fashion. As a result more often than not, innocent people spend years, in some case decades, in jail before being exonerated. To make a bad situation worse, jail authorities do not always properly follow long pending cases. During the recent years, in one case the apex court hearing an appeal in a murder case ordered the release of two brothers only to discover they had already been hanged; in another an accused declared innocent had already died in jail after many years of incarceration. There are countless other examples of innocent persons freed after having spent several productive years of life in prison.
Another problem, the CJP rightly pointed out, are old laws some of which go back to the colonial era. They have not been updated in line with the requirements of a modern state. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1898, for instance, slightly amended in 1997, is still in force. Although he was careful not to tread on political sensitivities, the sad reality is that the judicial system has been designed by the power elites to serve their own interests rather than to protect the rights of all citizens. From time to time, both civil and military rulers have gotten laws enacted to enhance political power or to further their financial interests. Indeed, judges are not infallible, either. But certain laws also a hindrance to administration of justice. It is hoped Justice Saqib Nisar's call for a badly needed overhaul of the justice system will not go unheeded. The government must fulfill its part of the responsibility, and appoint judicial officers in required strength along with provision of necessary infrastructure facilities to ensure all citizens have the right to fair trial. Equally important, Parliament needs to take a hard look on the statute book with a view to update it and make new laws wherever necessary.