Evaluation: Promotion of judicial officers linked to performance

Video link technology would be used to deliver weekly lectures to district judiciary officials across the province: CJ

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said on Friday the performance of judicial officers would be evaluated using a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation mechanism.

“Evaluation reports will become part of their service record which shall be taken into account while deciding matters related to their promotions and transfers,” the chief justice said at a ceremony held to distribute awards among participants of the Training of Trainers Programme at the Punjab Judicial Academy (PJA).

Justice Shah said no institution could progress in the absence of trained human resource. “Before their posting, all judicial officers shall undergo a six-month extensive training… at the PJA to ensure that the rights of public are effectively adjudicated upon,” he said.He said all judicial officers in districts and a major chunk of staff at the district judiciary shall undergo training under the General Training Programme, set to commence in October.

He said video link technology would be used to deliver weekly lectures to district judiciary officials across the province. Within a year, he said, the PJA would publish bench books enabling judicial officers to adjudicate upon the rights of people with more confidence. The chief justice said promotion of learning and training was vital for overcoming weaknesses in the system. “Judiciary is a performance based institution; henceforth it will run on the basis of progressive performance.” He praised PJA’s efforts for redefining justice delivery system. “The academy serves as nourishing ground for future trainers,” he said. He said vacancies in faculty would be filled soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2016.