Delay Reduction: Issues & Strategies

The delays in dispensation of justice is a chronic problem and has been the main issue before the successive Law Reform Commissions set up from time to time. The delay has tormented the litigant public to an extent that today even those with meritorious claims are reluctant to go to the courts for the redress of their grievances. Several reasons have been put forward for this sluggish performance of the judicial sector, particularly the subordinate courts, ranging from infirmities in the judicial governance and administration to the weaknesses in the legal education, weakly disciplined legal profession, incompetent investigation and prosecution, lack of citizens’ access to justice and legal information, to the inadequate justice sector resource allocation. However, as mentioned before, the issues not directly connected to or within the control of the courts, i.e. relating to the investigation and the prosecution, remedial steps thereof and any impact on delay reduction would also be deliberated upon. Likewise, the issue of inadequacy of resource allocation would also be discussed to ensure adequate finances to the justice sector.

This delay not only denies timely justice to those entitled to it but it also creates perverse incentives for the unscrupulous elements to abuse the process of law; and such trends are discernible from the quantum of frivolous litigation that goes on in Pakistani courts where the intent is to harass the other party or merely to cause delay. Another indicator to bear out this massive abuse is the large number of cases that are abandoned in early litigation and do not reach the decision stage.

The impact of this systemic inefficiency is catastrophic. It has led to the sliding of many low middle income families into the poverty trap and continues to keep many others from moving out of the is vicious circle. The delay, in addition to exacting the cost in terms of lost time, creates opportunities for corruption and is a source of serious squeeze on the incomes of the poor. The dice of litigation in Pakistani courts is heavily loaded against the poor and in favor of the rich with greater holding power, both in terms of money and influence.

This state of affairs is neither in the interest of the poor litigant nor in the interest of a business house; both demand speedy justice. And the cost of delay to the society is enormous. As mentioned earlier, the poor may not knock at the doors of justice and may settle for unjust and socially less than optimal decisions (with consequences for the social order not always immediately apparent); and the rich may not be willing to invest in a jurisdiction where the delay and unpredictability do not guarantee economically feasible outcomes. These individually rational decisions of the rich and the poor ensure continuation of a repressive and exploitative environment which does not allow the country to extricate itself from the clutches of poverty and embrace social harmony and a decent economic growth trajectory. At the conference, the participants are expected to look at the issues and matters and hold a threadbare discussion for effective delay reduction strategy.