Undermining rule of law: CJP pleads for turning around low conviction

Says justice committees well placed to examine quality of service

ISLAMABAD:

Voicing concern over the low conviction rate in the country, Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali on Saturday called for greater introspection within the justice sector and collective efforts to turn things around.

He was speaking at the two-day National Judicial Conference on ‘Transforming the Criminal Justice System’.



“I have no doubt that the low conviction rate is a matter of concern for us all. It reflects on us both as individual organisations and collectively, as interdependent multi-organisational justice sector. And rightly so; since no one organisation acting on its own can significantly change the conviction rate, as it requires a collective sector-wide coordinated and concerted effort from all parts of the justice sector,” the CJP said.

For the past several years, the chief justice said, the country had been passing through “extraordinarily difficult times marked by terrorism, violence and corruption that continues to challenge the criminal justice system”. The latest act of terrorism was reported from Lahore where a suicide bombing killed more than 72 people and injured at least 300 others late last month.

Legislature, in its wisdom, had taken steps, but “we, as the justice sector, also need to address this scenario ... in our respective areas of competence and available resources,” the chief justice said.

He said that beyond day-to-day functions, the system’s apparent “inability” to provide justice to the aggrieved, adversely affected public confidence in the formal justice system, encouraging citizens to seek justice by whatever means possible, thereby undermining the formal rule of law.

“We need to, therefore, come together to learn from each other, deliberate on what we can do and move together to improve the quality of our justice services.”



The chief justice stated that the conference dealt with some of the more difficult questions that judges “must address to ensure a fair and effective criminal justice system”. “It requires us to critically, honestly, openly and constructively reflect on our performance.”

He said that the provincial justice committees were key to this effort. By bringing together the provincial heads of the criminal justice system, the provincial justice committees fill a critical institutional gap in terms of justice sector level operations, coordination, policy, planning, monitoring and reforms. The provincial justice committees “can reach out to the district level (committees) through their local service delivery units such as local police stations and courts; and also as members of the district criminal justice coordination committees whose performance and recommendations can now be reviewed directly by a provincial counterpart”. “The provincial justice committees are thus well placed to examine the quality of service delivery based on officials and citizens’ feedback.”

“I have all the trust and faith that we have the capacity to transform our criminal justice system. At stake is the rule of law, which ultimately means the lives and the wellbeing of the citizens of Pakistan,” he concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2016.