Public trust in judiciary growing: CJP

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry says K-P soon to have a judicial academy.

KARACHI:

The role of judiciary is getting more crucial with every passing day as more and more citizens are reposing confidence in this institution for remedying their grievances, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Saturday.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day-long  ‘First Summit of All Pakistan Judicial Academies’ hosted by the Sindh High Court.

Urging judges to acquaint themselves with a wider knowledge of human society and its foibles, he said that it was the only way they could resolve contemporary societal problems.

The Supreme Court chief justice said that a judicial academy will soon be set up in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, adding that Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan already have judicial academies.

These academies, he said, had been established to cure intrinsic weaknesses of the judicial system.

Expressing the hope that the summit would provide an opportunity for critically examining judicial institutions, he said that it was vital for making sure that they met current social needs.

Highlighting the judiciary’s independence, he cited a legal luminary Charles Evans Hugges: “We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is, and the judiciary is the safeguard of our liberty and of our property under the Constitution.”

Urging judges to learn to utilise information technology tools and other modern gadgets, he said that the newer approach and training towards judicial functions could lead to a ‘judicial reformation’, adding that it would further strengthen the judicial system.

The conference will conclude on Sunday evening.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.