July 19, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 15, 1429

KARACHI, July 18: The number of judges would be raised at all levels to eliminate delays in disposal of cases “which is a cause of grave concern to the people,” Chief Justice of Pakistan Abdul Hameed Dogar told a gathering of superior courts’ judges, judicial officers, lawyers and law officers here on Thursday night.

“The courts of law are citadels of justice and people look to them to get rid of inequalities and injustices; for settlement of their claims; for resolution of disputes; and for adjudication of their cases expeditiously and transparently. With the enactment of different laws, the volume of work in courts is increasing enormously without a corresponding increase in the number of judges,” the CJ told the audience at a ceremony held in the Sindh High Court compound to distribute computers among the district and sessions courts of the province.

A group of lawyers suddenly appeared in a wagon behind the SHC premises and raised slogans as the CJ rose to deliver his speech. They were picked up by the police posted there and released soon afterward. Karachi Bar Association Secretary Naeem Qureshi, SHC Bar Association treasurer Sarwar Mohammad Khan and advocates Salahuddin Ahmed and Javed Bukhari were among the protesters.

Justice Dogar said the federal and provincial governments were alive to the requirements of the judiciary and said: “We will see major developments in the legal and judicial field.”

The National Judicial Policymaking Committee (NJPC) headed by him had taken a number of initiatives, he pointed out, and said that the issue of shortage of judges would also be taken up with the government soon. The existing vacancies would soon be filled and the number of judges would be increased at all levels, including subordinate judiciary, along with the requisite infrastructure, i.e. court complexes, residential buildings, office equipment and other facilities, he added.

It was for these reasons that the NJPC had recommended to the federal government to continue the “Access to Justice Programme”, he observed, and said this would not only ensure smooth completion of the ongoing projects, but would also help launching of new schemes. Besides seeking an increase in the number of judges, attention was also being paid to the application of case management techniques and alternative dispute resolution to cope with the ever-increasing number of cases, he said.

‘Automation pace slow’

Justice Dogar noted that the pace and progress of automation in the judiciary had been slow in the past. It was in the early 1990s that the concept was introduced but due to a lack of resources and the necessary follow-up action, little progress was made in this behalf until the recent past.

Up to 2006, the hardware infrastructure of the Sindh High Court consisted of about 180 computers, one server and a network of 145 nodes. The circuit courts had a few computers but without a network. In all, 730 computers had been provided to courts in the Punjab and NWFP.

The issue, the CJ said, was taken up by him at the NJPC meetings and consequently, 1,461 computers along with their accessories were being provided to the subordinate courts across the country. As many as 730 computers would be provided to the Sindh and Balochistan courts by the end of July. Computer training was being imparted to all the judicial officers in the country.

The automation plan of the judiciary envisages linking of the courts — from the civil court to the Supreme Court —through an integrated website.

“This is to be done by standardisation of databases,” the CJ said, declaring that all bottlenecks in the smooth execution of the plan would be removed at the earliest.

The ceremony was attended, among others, by Justices Saiyed Saeed Ash’had and Zia Pervez of the Supreme Court; Chief Justice Azizullah M. Memon and Justices Munib Ahmed Khan, Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, Khalid Ali Z. Qazi and Khwaja Naveed Ahmed of the Sindh High Court; Federal Law Secretary Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan and Deputy Attorney-General Rizwan Ahmed Siddiqui.