National Judicial Policy: CJ calls for speedy justice, more accountability
‘High court judges should inspect subordinate courts, make surprise visits’.
KARACHI:
Opening a two-day National Judicial Conference to examine and review the implementation of the National Judicial Policy (NJP), the Chief Justice of Pakistan on Friday asked the chief justices of high courts to ensure strict supervision and control over the subordinate judiciary.
The conference was attended by all provincial chief justices, district and sessions judges and other judicial officers at a local hotel here.
Addressing the participants after the inaugural session open to the media, CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said the judicial policy envisages “activating all existing resources” to achieve the singular objective of expeditious and inexpensive justice to the people of Pakistan.
“A few days ago a news item was aired on a TV channel, where a person claimed that his 11-year-old daughter was killed after committing zina. The accused was arrested who confessed his guilt…but the case has been lingering on for the last six years without any progress,” the chief justice said.
“This is just one case, which has come into the limelight; I fear how many identical cases could be pending before the courts negating our tall claims of expeditious and qualitative dispensation of justice.”
“The NJP has an effective mechanism, but the goals are yet to be achieved,” the CJP said, adding that “this is the time to step forward and assume our roles and duties”
“We have reached at a point where accountability should be done on our own, is it a failure of our system? Or is it the lack of enforcement? ” he said.
He read out Article 203 of the Constitution and said it unequivocally provides that “Each High Court Shall supervise and control all Courts subordinate to it.” He also made a reference to the Civil Procedure Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Civil Court Ordinance 1962 and High Court Rules and Orders and said that “chief justices and judges of high courts are duty bound to actively supervise the subordinate judiciary through inspection and surprise visits to the lower courts.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2011.
Opening a two-day National Judicial Conference to examine and review the implementation of the National Judicial Policy (NJP), the Chief Justice of Pakistan on Friday asked the chief justices of high courts to ensure strict supervision and control over the subordinate judiciary.
The conference was attended by all provincial chief justices, district and sessions judges and other judicial officers at a local hotel here.
Addressing the participants after the inaugural session open to the media, CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said the judicial policy envisages “activating all existing resources” to achieve the singular objective of expeditious and inexpensive justice to the people of Pakistan.
“A few days ago a news item was aired on a TV channel, where a person claimed that his 11-year-old daughter was killed after committing zina. The accused was arrested who confessed his guilt…but the case has been lingering on for the last six years without any progress,” the chief justice said.
“This is just one case, which has come into the limelight; I fear how many identical cases could be pending before the courts negating our tall claims of expeditious and qualitative dispensation of justice.”
“The NJP has an effective mechanism, but the goals are yet to be achieved,” the CJP said, adding that “this is the time to step forward and assume our roles and duties”
“We have reached at a point where accountability should be done on our own, is it a failure of our system? Or is it the lack of enforcement? ” he said.
He read out Article 203 of the Constitution and said it unequivocally provides that “Each High Court Shall supervise and control all Courts subordinate to it.” He also made a reference to the Civil Procedure Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Civil Court Ordinance 1962 and High Court Rules and Orders and said that “chief justices and judges of high courts are duty bound to actively supervise the subordinate judiciary through inspection and surprise visits to the lower courts.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2011.