A meeting of the Registrars of Federal Shariat Court & High Courts, Provincial Home Secretaries, Prosecutors General, Inspectors-General Police, Inspectors-General (Prisons) and Directors of Reclamation & Probation was held under the Chairmanship of Dr Faqir Hussain, Registrar, Supreme Court of Pakistan, in the Secretariat of Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan here on Friday.
It is pertinent to mention that the recommendations formulated during the meeting will be placed before National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee in its meeting to be held on Saturday in Islamabad. According to a press release, discussion was carried out on the issues related to non-submission of challan, defective investigations, non-production of under-trial prisoners and other issues ancillary to administration of criminal justice system.
This Committee has been set up on the directions of Chief Justice of Pakistan. In his address, the Registrar of Supreme Court stated that the object of convening the meeting was to identify irritants, hiccups in the administration of criminal justice system and to suggest corrective measures based on broad consultation with the stakeholders of criminal justice system.
He stated that the meeting was convened on the directions of the Chief Justice of Pakistan/Chairman, National Judicial Policy Making Committee, who is keen to ensure that the administration of justice improves and cases are decided expeditiously. The Registrar stated that the meeting would provide an opportunity to the important actors of criminal justice system to share their problems and experiences to improve the performance of all the stakeholders particularly the prosecution and investigation agencies and achieving the targets of the National Judicial Policy, 2009.
The meeting considered various issues related to investigation of cases, timely submission of challans and hiccups which caused delays in the early disposal of cases.
The Registrars of the High Courts, Prosecutors General and Inspectors General Police presented statistics of FIRs registered, number of cases in which challans have been submitted and figures of the cases where actions have been taken against delinquent investigation officers for inefficiency.
The meeting also discussed various issues and problems which cause delay in completion of investigation and submission of challan before the court of law including lack of forensic science laboratories and modern techniques in crime detection. The Provincial Prosecutors General said that there is shortage of prosecutors which causes delays in finalisation of cases. On the other hand, the investigation officers are lacking required qualifications and skills; therefore, acquittal rate is high which is affecting the image of justice sector institution in general and judiciary in particular.
The meeting resolved that the Registrars of High Courts should convene the meetings of Prosecutors General, I.G.Ps and Advocates General on monthly basis for monitoring the performance of the investigation agencies and early completion of investigations as provided in the Law and Policy.
The meeting also considered the working of District Criminal Justice Co-ordination Committees and recommended that meetings should be held regularly in each district because this would provide an opportunity to the representatives of Judiciary, Police, Prosecution, Prison and Probation Departments to discuss issues which are hindering the process of dispensation of justice.
The Provincial Inspectors General (Prisons) presented the figures of prisoners confined in different jails of their respective Provinces. The meeting was informed that after implementation of Judicial Policy, the load on the jails had been decreased considerably. The D.I.G (Prisons) Punjab said that prior to implementation of Judicial Policy there were 63000 prisoners in various jails of the Punjab Province, which was three times the capacity of jails. However, after implementation of Judicial Policy and quick disposal of cases, the figure has been decreased to 52967.
Similarly, in the Province of Sindh the population of jail inmates has been reduced from 20,000 to 13464 which is a substantial reduction. Likewise in other provinces the population of jail inmates has also been decreased considerably due to timely disposal of their cases. The Committee has been set up under the directions of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
During the meeting it was observed that due to increase in disposal of cases by the courts not only the overall strength of prison inmates has reduced but also the number of convicts in prisons has considerably increased as compared to under-trial prisoners. However, in the province of Sindh the ratio of under-trial prisoners continues to be high. This is attributed to the non-appointment of judges of Anti Terrorism Courts because of which these undertrial prisoners have to languish in jails.
The meeting also considered issues related to non-production of under-trial prisoners before the courts The Provincial IG (Prisons) presented statistics of cases where prisoners were not produced before the court and also explained the reasons. The meeting observed that after implementation of Policy the problem of nonproduction of under-trial prisoners have been addressed to a great extent. However, there are few instances where prisoners were not presented before the court due to non availability of transport facility, shortage of security personnel and law & order situation.
The meeting also reviewed the data of offenders released on probation. It was informed that previously the law was not applied by the Courts. However, the National Judicial Policy laid stress on the effective application of said law and as such the Provincial Governments were asked to enhance the capacity of probation departments. The Courts were also directed to apply the said laws.
The initiative taken in the National Judicial Policy worked effectively and after implementation of Policy 38212 offenders have been released on probation by invoking the provisions of Probation of Offenders Ordinance, 1960 by the courts in the Province of Punjab, whereas 1388 offenders were released on probation in the Province of Sindh, 2244 in the Province of Khyber Pukhtonkhawa and 24 offenders in Balochistan.
The Meeting was also informed that previously the institution of Reclamation and Probation was neglected one and most the of districts were without Probation & Parole Officers. However, after enforcement of Judicial Policy the Provincial Governments have realised the importance of this institution and have taken steps to strengthen the same in terms of man power and necessary infrastructure.
The issues related to monthly jail visits of District & Sessions Judges were also discussed. The meeting was informed that pursuant to the National Judicial Policy the District & Sessions Judges are paying regular visits of the jails and have decided considerable number of cases of offenders involved in minor offences under the directions of Hon'ble Chief Justice of Pakistan.
It was noticed that due to these visits the overall conditions in jails had improved and it had provided an opportunity to the jail inmates to register their complaints and on spot relief. The recommendations formulated during the meeting will be placed before National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee in its meeting to be scheduled on 14th May, 2011.