Court staff’s services to be regularised

Law ministry decides to regularise anti-terrorism and lower courts employees.

ISLAMABAD:

The law ministry has decided to regularise the services of all contractual employees working in Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs) across the country.

“All the provinces will take necessary steps for regularisation of all the presiding officers, prosecutors general and other court employees,” according to officials who attended an inter-provincial meeting on Monday.

Federal Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan presided over the meeting convened to discuss the difficulties being faced by the ATCs and lower courts. He pledged to address the issues faced by the courts within a week.

The participants also stressed on increasing the number of public prosecutors for lower courts and recommended a generous raise in their salaries from the next fiscal year. Employees in all the courts of the federal capital who have completed a three-year term in one place are to be transferred to other courts in the provinces.

The Supreme Court had taken notice of the problems being faced by the lower courts including ATCs and directed the Law Ministry to address them as soon as possible.

During the meeting, Law Minister Sindh Ayaz Soomro, Law Minister Balochistan Shama Parveen Magsi and Law Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkha Barrister Arshad Abdullah emphasised the need to provide security guards to public prosecutors on the day of prosecution in addition to a police squad.

The provincial law ministers suggested carrying out repairs of the premises of all courts. They were of the view that intensive efforts were required to repair and renovate the courts and encourage a conducive environment.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2011.