Institutional weakness undermines rule of law

Seminar urges developing a police force, trained to uphold rule of law

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today is beset with a situation where its main constitutional organs, the legislature, the judiciary and the executive, still seem to be struggling, to strike the right balance towards establishing a credible system of rule of law.

This was stated by Global Think Tank Network Senior Fellow Dr Shoaib Suddle while addressing a seminar “Un (Rule) of Law: The Policing Deficit in Pakistan” at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU).

The seminar was organised by the Special Coordination Committee on 50 Years of QAU (1967-2017) as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the university.



Suddle said the edifice of the state stands on institutions. Rather than strengthening, the structure of the institutions has eroded over time. “As bureaucracy by its nature is subservient to the political executive, it is the first casualty amongst the institutions. Its powers, systems, morale, and accountability, have suffered gradual erosion over time. Resultantly, the critical skeleton of the Body State is inefficient, ineffective, corrupt, and, therefore an anathema to the whole concept of rule of law,” he explained.

He briefed the historical background and evolution of the concept of rule of law since the ancient times when there were no clear rules written in the form of statutes and everyone was subject to the whims of powerful men till the modern concept of rule of law. He also described the Islamic teachings of justice and informed the audience how Magna Carta established the principle according to which everybody was accountable, including the king.

He also discussed the police system in detail which was entrusted to enforce law, protect human rights, defend fundamental freedoms and maintain public order. He said even though Pakistan inherited a police system from the British in 1947, it was an instrument in the hands of the colonial government, designed to keep the natives on a tight leash, not a politically neutral instrument for fair and just enforcement of law. Police was designed to be a public-frightening agency, not a public-friendly law enforcement mechanism.



“Sadly enough, the crisis facing the police has continued to deepen by the day. The solution lies in radically changing the way the police operated, in shifting from the colonial policing practices to community policing, in reinventing the police which had miserably failed to win the much-needed partnership with citizens and communities, and in developing a culture of professional policing, trained and equipped to uphold the rule of law,” said Dr Suddle.

While concluding the talk he stressed that establishing the rule of law and law enforcement modernisation were probably the greatest challenges confronting Pakistan in the 21st century, and must be met sooner rather than later.

QAU Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Ashraf said policing was an important and contemporary issue the people of Pakistan were facing. Senior faculty members and large number of students attended the seminar.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2017.