KEYNOTE ADDRESS OF

MR. JUSTICE IFTIKHAR MUHAMMAD CHAUDHAY

HON'BLE CHIEF JUSTICE OF PAKISTAN

ISLAMABAD, 9TH FEBRUARY, 2007

My brother Judges;

Honorable Chief Justices;

Respectable members of Bar;

Distinguished guests;

Ladies and gentlemen!
 

Asalam-o-Alaikum!

I consider it a matter of great pleasure addressing this august gathering of honorable judges of the superior courts on the historic occasion of first ever National Judicial Conference, organized by the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee. I am very pleased that this conference of superior courts has brought all of us together at this platform to share our thoughts, experiences and knowledge in order to review the state of our judicial system and recommend meaningful measures to improve the service, image and standing of our court system. I commend the efforts of the Secretariat of Law & Justice Commission in organizing this conference. The occasion indeed, marks an important event in the judicial calendar of Pakistan.

At the outset of my speech, I would like to emphasize that we must work with a commitment to realize a just and equitable society, based on rule of law. This goal could only be achieved by strengthening the judicial system and it is in this spirit that the National Judicial Conference has provided us an opportunity to discuss the state of judicial services and brought together judicial minds to deliberate on justice needs and the provision of quality and timely justice services. It would indeed be a small but import step towards our sincere effort to bring justice closer to the doorsteps of people.

 Ladies and Gentlemen:

 A vibrant and independent judiciary is essential for the promotion of good governance practices. We understand that ensuring the rule of law and access to justice, particularly for the vulnerable, requires a comprehensive strategy and suitable policy and legal frameworks for an independent and functional judiciary. We need to adopt a comprehensive approach to deal with these issues in a holistic manner involving all stakeholders. Our clear aim should be to enable the judicial system to serve the rule of law effectively and efficiently to deal with citizens’ grievances and other justice needs. 

A vibrant, dynamic and independent judiciary will not only help reduce poverty but also establish our credentials in the comity of nations as a nation that values and respects the rule of law and human rights. For this, our judicial system must be able to provide accessible justice in terms of cost, quality and timeliness, which is essential for achieving good governance.

The problems confronted by our judiciary are complex and multidimensional, a result of years of neglect. The state, in which our judicial governance finds itself deeply in, calls for a comprehensive reform package that addresses issues of legal and policy framework, institutional and technical capacity, incentives, sustainable financing based on efficient use of resources that can strengthen the delivery of judicial services thereby leading to professional court administration contributing to judicial independence. Also, with a view to promote the independence of judiciary, we need to affirm the constitutional provisions relating to the complete separation of the judiciary from the executive by placing all executive magistrates under the control and supervision of the judiciary. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

Our Judicial system shall remain weak unless we ensure speedy, fair and quality delivery of justice. However, I apprehend that given massive backlog and long delays in the administration of justice the common man will loose confidence in our judicial system. During my career, I have noticed that expensive litigation and the agonizingly slow pace of trial proceedings have completely demoralized the public, especially the poor. In the process, resources have not yielded the optimum output, there are huge delays in cases being heard, resulting in diminishing public trust in the justice system. Clearing of the backlog of cases, the expeditious and quality delivery of justice has an impact on restoring citizens’ confidence in the judiciary and remains a prime concern of the NJPMC.

I would like to stress that without addressing the issue of court administration the judicial system cannot be run in an effective manner. The courts’ staff must be well versed in the management techniques to ensure efficient use of resources. We need to consider implementing Courts Automation Plan approved by the National Judicial Policy Making Committee to address weakness in professional administration of courts along with a stress on training component of the non-judicial staff of the courts. Now that the superior courts have acquired necessary hardware, I want to see tangible progress in operationalising the Courts Automation Plan.

In my view, our judges are way too burdened with a heavy caseload due to increasing population and litigation, but there has been little attention to reform with innovation to seriously address the mounting backlog. Given will and hard work and by employing appropriate techniques to enhance disposal, backlog can be reduced. I could quote the example of Supreme Court, where in a short span of a year and a half, pendency has been reduced to manageable level. I have nothing but praise for my colleagues on the bench and staff of the Supreme Court for their hard work and commitment to reduce the backlog. I hope that this conference will recommend steps to ensure delay reduction through delay reduction strategies, automation, incentives and performance outputs. Another reform intervention could be to encourage the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) initiatives, which can reduce the number of cases going to the courts and enhance access to justice with reduced cost to the citizen. This is an important area that demands its full implementation, yet we must ensure quality. Arbitration is successfully employed throughout the world, which is a preferred mode of dispute settlement for the business community. We need to review Arbitration Act in order to make it in line with changing needs and modern day requirements of the society. You would agree that quality ADR serves a conducive problem solving device for creating conditions of domestic as well as foreign direct investment.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Nothing is more important than a sense of justice and security to a citizen. Whether it’s a question of protection of his fundamental rights, enforcement of contract, accessibility of public entitlements or property rights, the common man wants to have a feeling of complete security by having unfettered access to justice. Equally important is the matter of economic development of the country, which is intrinsically linked with the quality and extent of the justice service delivery situation in the country. No foreign investment or local industry can make strides if citizens’ access to justice is not ensured in a genuinely professional manner.

It is time we take steps to restore the dignity, image and functionality of our judicial system through sincere reforms efforts. At the same time we need to rehabilitate the lost trust of our citizens in the way justice is dispensed and administered in our country.

Here I would also like to point out that public grievances arise from the mal-administration of the government officials. Again, institutional strengthening and capacity-building, including automation, delay-reduction are the areas which should be prioritized as part of the reform efforts to strengthen and improve citizens access to quality justice service delivery. Just as strong and independent judicial system is as important for good governance so is a well-informed citizenry, aware of their rights and how to enforce them. Knowledge of rights and law, and the capacity to act upon this knowledge, are critical elements of strategy to promote access to justice and legal empowerment. I am pleased to share with you that at Law & Justice Commission, steps are being taken to promote legal frameworks to empower citizens dealing with the state institutions and the market. Let me inform you that the Commission is preparing popular versions of simplified explanations of law in simple Urdu language to enhance accessibility for the ordinary citizen.

It is needless to say that it takes courage, commitment and resources to provide free legal assistance for poor vulnerable populations. This becomes a serious matter in a country like Pakistan where judicial system is already faced with multiple challenges and poverty trap has expanded, compounded by low literacy levels. Legal empowerment and legal aid to indigent clients whose fundamental rights are violated aught to be the paramount concern for us all. In this respect our aim is not only to raise legal rights awareness among masses but to also strengthen legal aid systems established by the Bar and civil society. With an active partnership and involvement of the Bar and civil society we can improve citizens-state interface.

The Law & Justice Commission is managing an endowment under which a significant portion of resources are allocated to promote a variety of civil society led legal empowerment initiatives ranging from legal aid, legal literacy to advocacy and the public interest litigation etc. Under the same endowment fund, information centers are being established in the districts to facilitate litigant public in knowing their rights, their cases and other matters of the court. In addition to that, greater transparency through publication of annual reports and holding of conference like this will all promote greater citizens focus on the judicial system of our country.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Let me now turn to another area where recent reform efforts of the federal government has focused. It is my assessment that revising the role and expanding the mandate of the Law & Justice Commission marks a major policy shift in terms of creating an overarching body with a responsibility to propose reforms, monitor them and act as a think-tank and reform driver for the entire justice sector reform process. To bolster finances for the judiciary, it is heartening to share with you that the Commission is now entrusted with a US$ 25 million endowment fund, the Access to Justice Development Fund, as an independent stream of income to support various justice related activities to strengthen operations of the subordinate courts, improve the work of legal and judicial research institutions and support legal empowerment initiatives.

It is rightly said that predictability and fairness are the hallmarks of the legal and judicial system. In the context of Pakistan, the basic problem of judicial administration relates to case flow management, court information systems, human resource and infrastructure matters. Without strengthening these crucial areas of judicial governance our efforts launched for a strong and independent judiciary will remain meaningless. For the first time, a permanent institutional response in the shape of a high profile National Judicial Policy Making Committee has been formulated to address these issues. The Commission is mandated to ensure skilled and efficient judiciary through improving performance standards, rationalizing terms and conditions of judicial functionaries and strengthening judicial statistics. The National Judicial Policy Making Committee represents a finest example of its kind in the justice sector marking a unique example of institutional reforms to effectively deal with chronic delays, corruption, unfavorable set of judicial procedures for marginalized and poor. With its establishment, it is hoped that problems of massive delays, backlog and frivolous litigation will be addressed on a sustainable basis through timely and coherent implementation of judicial policy decisions.

Needless to say that any reform process takes time to take roots in the society and reforming judicial system is no exception. It is not easy to change organizational culture, practices and systems instituted long ago. We understand the difficulties in implementing many a new and bold initiatives to improve the performance of the judiciary but we need to be patient before we see the concrete results.

With this, I would like to thank once again the Secretariat of Law & Justice Commission for organizing this conference, which in my view is a commendable step. I am confident that this event will promote constructive engagement with the stakeholders who wish to see our judiciary performing its duties and role in a truly professional manner.  I am thankful to the audience particularly honorable judges, members of the bar, academia and media, who have come here to share their knowledge and perception with us. I am sure your valuable presence here will enable all participants to take full advantage from the discourse in the conference.

Before partying I would like to reiterate that the challenges before our legal and judicial systems are varied and of complex nature. Only a determined and honest approach to these problems can strengthen and revitalize the institutions. In the end, I remain hopeful that debates generated at this forum will help identify in concrete terms the institutional weaknesses and yield appropriate recommendations for reform of the legal and judicial system. I wish to clarify that the National Judicial Policy Making Committee is open to all sorts of suggestions to improve the justice delivery system in our country.  I assure you of my full cooperation in taking the justice sector reform agenda forward. Once again, I would like to thank the distinguished participants of the conference for their indulgence.

Thank you very much.