ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial has said the judiciary is committed to providing expeditious justice despite confronting numerous challenges.

He also stressed the need to discourage false and frivolous litigation and emphasised the importance of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in reducing the burden of cases from courts.

The chief justice made these observations while presiding over the meetings of the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC), Access to Justice Development Fund (AJDF) governing body and the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) at the Supreme Court on Friday.

The NJPMC, with the chief justice as its chairman, and chief justices of Federal Shariat Court and high courts as its members, is a body tasked with capacity building of judicial staff to improve their performance of the administration of justice.

Asks high court judges to utilise IT for service delivery; stresses importance of alternative dispute resolution for clearing backlog

CJP Bandial said that when it comes to the protection of fundamental rights, the judiciary becomes relevant since it has to apply laws to protect the Constitution and fundamental rights of citizens.

He added that ADR leads to an amicable settlement of disputes and appreciated the role of the ADR committee and LJCP for taking initiatives for ensuring effective implementation of alternative dispute resolution framework in the country.

The CJP advised the judges, judicial officers, lawyers and court staff to use information technology for enhancing service delivery.

The high court chief justices should benefit from training programmes conducted by federal and provincial judicial academies, the CJP urged.

During the meeting, the NJPMC reviewed the performance of the judiciary in line with its previous directions.

The committee also deliberated upon institution, disposal and pendency of cases; vacancies in the judiciary; and factors hindering the efficient administration of the criminal justice system.

The NJPMC members discussed issues related to the submission of challans, conviction and acquittals, statistics of under-trial prisoners, issues of inmates and pending appeals of convicted prisoners.

The vacant positions in the judiciary should be filled on a priority basis for expeditious disposal of pending cases. The investigating officers and prosecution should be trained to improve the quality of probes and trials.

The members agreed that case challans should be submitted within the mandated period to help ensure the early disposal of cases. Meanwhile, regular meetings should be held for better coordination between justice sector stakeholders.

The high court chief justices suggested that special and dedicated benches should be constituted to decide pending cases and closely monitor the performance of the district judiciary.

According to a report, 54,965 cases were pending in the Supreme Court as of June 30. When CJP Bandial took oath as the chief justice in February last year, 53,964 cases were pending before the apex court.

While heading the meeting of AJDF, the CJP emphasised the need for expeditious execution of projects to improve the infrastructure of district courts and create facilities for women judicial officers, litigants and lawyers.

The CJP advised the high court chief justices to use AJDF — a Rs1.5bn endowment created by the government to address the judiciary’s budget constraints — for infrastructural development of the judiciary.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2023