LAHORE:
As judges focus on reducing its backlog of old cases under a new policy, the total number of cases pending in the courts is creeping up as the rate of disposal does not match the rate of filing of new cases.
A total of 193,838 criminal and civil cases were pending in the courts in July. That figure rose to 196,246 by the end of September. Only 6,748 criminal and civil cases were disposed of in July, while 11,857 cases were disposed of in September.
Several judicial and civil magistrates, talking to The Express Tribune, said that the rate of disposal had improved, though it was obviously not enough to clear the backlog. They said that a judicial policy had been issued which instructed judges to prioritise the disposal of cases that had been pending for many years.
Judges and litigants complained that many cases went through adjournment after adjournment because lawyers didn’t turn up. “Lawyers use absenteeism as a tactic to delay cases,” said one judicial officer. “The pendency can’t be reduced until this is stopped.” Lawyers said that the major challenge was not absenteeism, but simply a lack of judges. “There are not enough judges while more and more cases are being filed. They are hearing over 90 cases a day and the pendency is still increasing,” said a lawyer.
Sessions Court Superintendent Chaudhry Muhammad Arif said that the judges were doing well in disposing of the old cases. He said that it was not surprising that the backlog was increasing since the population was growing
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2011.
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