Injustice is often stated as the real cause of degradation of a society or a nation. It is indeed true that timely dispensation of justice and its delivery being visible to the public, is an important pillar for the proper functioning and prosperity of any state. A strong judicial and policing system is necessary to ensure that this process can take place and it ensures good functioning of economy, politics and social order in a state. Without effective judicial oversight and protection foreign and local investment in any country is always at risk and hence leads to lesser investment in businesses which in turn leads to lower economic growth. It creates cartels who monopolize entire sectors of the economy as only they have the power, protection and connections within the state apparatus. On the other hand, it causes the general population to suffer from increased prices and lesser choices. In addition, it leads to increased crime and financial corruption in society since it is clear to all such elements that their behavior will go unpunished. This leads to various issues such as misuse of authority by government officials for financial gain fraud, street crime as well violent crime such as murders and armed robberies. It also impacts a country’s politics since without an impartial and efficient judiciary the courts simply become tolls for political victimization for those in power or allied with certain members of the judiciary. It encourages dictatorial tendencies in the government which knows there isn’t any judicial oversight to keep the executive in check and uphold the constitution and democratic values.
Pakistan’s judicial system is one of the weakest in the world in fulfilling the three roles mentioned above as is evident from its 130th place in rankings of judicial systems globally by independent bodies. Decisions by the senior judiciary such as the Reko Diq case have caused billions of dollars of economic losses. The controversial decisions to legitimize martial laws such as that of Musharraf have done great harm to development of democratic institutions in our country. Meanwhile the lower judiciary has failed miserably to provide timely and fair verdicts which have led to people either taking the law into their own hands or losing their property and investments. With more than two million cases pending in the lower judiciary and tens of thousands pending with the higher judiciary, it is indeed quiet embarrassing for the nation to be placed in the list along with the best judicial systems of the world.
Reforming our judicial system to ensure it delivers requires several reforms to be undertaken. Firstly there is a shortage of judges across all levels of judicial hierarchy. Judges are severely overstretched, making it almost impossible for judge to fairly dispose of thousands of pending cases across different regions. Not only does this lead to cases remaining pending for years if not decades, but also leads to higher chances of miscarriage of justice since proper attention cannot be given to each case. The vacancies in lower courts, higher courts and the Supreme Court need to be filled at all times and expanded whenever and wherever required to speed up judicial process. Secondly the criminal procedural law (Criminal Procedure Code) and criminal substantive law commonly known as Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) are 123 years and 161 years old respectively while the civil procedure code (CRPC) is 113 years old. These laws are just one of the many hangovers of our colonial times that are direly in need of review and up gradation to match with requirements of todays’ modern society. Furthermore they allow for endless rounds of appeals, revisions and reviews due to certain technicalities which prolong litigation for decades if not years. The fact that we have been unable to form our own legal codes in seventy five years shows how thoroughly inept we are as a nation and as a state governed by equally incompetent successive governments. Even the time periods specified by these laws are rarely observed by courts in civil and criminal matters which further causes problems for litigants. Both lawyers and courts should avoid unnecessary delaying tactics and uphold the sanctity of their profession to ensure timely decisions to litigants. Legal education and judicial trainings also needs to be improved by regulating educational institutes that produce future members as well as ensuring that any complaints against judges and lawyers with regard to fraud or corruption are dealt with thoroughly and swiftly. For this purpose a separate body needs to exist where such complaints can be heard since bar associations and the judiciary itself is largely incapable of self-regulation. Like the Nordic states the ministry of law and justice should have the highest authority in deciding such cases rather than bar councils or courts themselves which will lead to third party oversight on the judicial system itself. Regular visits by high court justices, inspection teams and the chief justice should also take place of all lower courts to ensure constant monitoring and appraisal.
The model courts formed by the Supreme Court back in 2019 have shown greater processing of litigation due to cases being heard on daily basis with no adjournments. This led to thousands of cases being decided by such courts within 15 days. Similar rules need to be made at other levels of the judiciary in which, barring criminal cases of a serious nature adjournments should not be allowed and it should be binding to give judgments within three months which is the standard time in the civilized countries such as the Nordic states. Along with these steps a reward system can also be established in which those judicial officers that are performing along set criteria can be given increments, promotions, preferred postings and other such benefits to incentivize good behavior.
These are some of the steps through which the performance of our judicial system can be improved to uplift Pakistan both economically, socially and politically.
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