Integration: CJP takes steps to speed up IT use by judiciary

Forms national judicial automation panel

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali has constituted the National Judicial Automation Committee, comprising six superior court judges.

The committee will expedite the use of information technology for improving the quality of service delivery in the justice sector.

According to the notification, the committee will be headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Mushir Alam.

During his tenure as the chief justice of the Sindh High Court, Justice Mushir introduced the first automation system in the high court, considered to be the best in the country.

Other members belong to each high court of the country – Justice Ayesha Malik of the Lahore High Court, Justice Munib Akhtar of the Sindh High Court, Justice Yahya Afridi of the Peshawar High Court,  Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan of the Balochistan High Court, Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi of the Islamabad High Court and Justice Sheikh Najam ul Hassan of the Federal Shariat Court.

According to the notification, the committee’s mandate is divided into three components.



Firstly, it will formulate a time-bound action plan for devising a national automation plan, improving the justice service delivery system.

Secondly, the committee will prepare a systemic roadmap for automating the justice sector and the judiciary and accessing financial requirements for achieving the same.

Thirdly, the committee will coordinate with technical experts and justice sector stakeholders to formulate and implement suitable information technology-based solutions to improve the service delivery, including better case-flow management.

A senior official in Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) said that police, prosecution, judiciary and prison departments were included in the justice sector, but these institutions are fragmented because of the introduction of disparate automation policies.

“Our aim is to integrate the justice sector where a unique case file seamlessly moves through common case-flow management system. A case file, initiated by the police department, should be available to all relevant departments such as prosecution, judiciary and prison,” he said.

He also referred to a recent report released by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan titled ‘Towards a National Policy and Strategy for the Application of Information Technology in the Justice Sector’.

It is the first such report that seeks to capture an overview of the challenges and issues confronting the justice sector to effectively take advantage of information technology.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2016.