Inaugurating an international judicial conference in Islamabad last Friday, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that all institutions of the state must play their due role to ensure access to justice for all, rich and poor alike, since the rule of law is the heart and soul of good governance.
Indeed, the rule of law is sine qua non of a democratic order. Given the chequered history of democracy in this country, it is hardly surprising that the system falls far short of some of the fundamental requisites of the rule of law.
Its essential conditions include the supremacy of the principle under which all people are equal before law; the idea of justice based on laws that are in tune with the needs of the time as well as fundamental human rights; and easy access for all to judicial processes. Then there, of course, is the self-evident but crucial need for independence of judiciary.
Equality before law is a concept alien to our ruling elite. More often than not they feel free to transgress legal limits with impunity, and even to get the existing laws bent or changed to achieve particular objectives. It is almost unthinkable for an ordinary citizen to be treated as an equal in case of a dispute with somebody resourceful and powerful.
Whether it is about simple everyday routines like obeying the traffic rules, paying utility bills or the responsibility of returning bank loans, the big fish get special favours and members of the weaker sections of society punishment for the slightest of offences, in some instances, even for a non-offence.
In fact, the culture of influence pedalling is so pervasive that it is deemed as normal. With regard to the issue of access to justice, the Prime Minister referred to the efforts that the federal government is making in collaboration with provincial governments and the judiciary in order to implement a broad-based 'Access to Justice Programme'.
Pointing out that the concept of mediation and conciliation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution are in vogue internationally for the settlement of economic and commercial disputes, he mentioned the initiative that his government has taken to introduce an alternative dispute resolution mechanism in this country. That should help address, to a significant extent, the serious delays and tendency problems that are too common in our slow moving judicial system.
Particularly important was his assertion that in order to ensure the security of a transaction, relevant laws are being reviewed in the light of international conventions, treaties and precedents. He also said that the government is working towards empowering civil society through law, and safeguarding fundamental human rights with major focus on empowerment of women, protection of minorities and other deprived segments of society. This is a very welcome statement of good intentions.
But it remains to be seen if the government has overcome its cold feet syndrome that it has been exhibiting on these issues in the face of opposition from certain right wing groups/parties who, due to a mixture of expediency and conservatism, have adopted Ziaul Haq's retrogressive laws pertaining to women and minorities as their own. One can only hope it will gather courage and bring these laws in conformity with universally accepted standards of justice.
Needless to say, it is not enough to place good laws on the statute book; the judiciary must also have the power to enforce them and to interpret the Constitution free from the executive's pressure.
For long our superior judiciary has been blamed, not totally without justification though, for harming constitutional law and political processes in compliance with the wishes of autocratic rulers.
Its defenders though seem to have a point when they reject the criticism as unfair, arguing that politicians and military rulers play perilous power games and then burden the judiciary with the task of sorting out the resultant messy situations under pressure.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan governments of all shades have without exception, gone to great lengths to have a pliant judiciary and a toothless media while the people at large, including those that are no longer in government, hanker for an independent and unfettered media and judiciary. The rule of law demands that all institutions of the state play their designated role without any hindrance. Only a truly functioning democracy can ensure that.