The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi addressed a room full of court associates at the start of the new judicial year, addressing not just the corners that require improvement but the steps that the Supreme Court has already taken, now being formalised.
There was a heavy emphasis on digitalisation and how to use the available technology in order to make the judicial system even more efficient. The order of the day was how to make the judiciary more efficient and to address the "functioning" of the courts and the "administrative side" of things. The need of the hour, according to the CJ, was how to reduce backlog and shorten case timelines. The CJ Afridi recommended in his speech that this be done through the use of technology.
He put forth five pillars that would integrate technology in the day-to-day processes of the courts. The first was "to improve service delivery through technology - from less paper to paperless."
Read: SC opens new judicial year with full agenda
The chief Justice explains that the court in the past year has slowly started to integrate steps, such as digital case filing has been introduced, case files can now be transferred online and cases can be fully tracked too. E-services such as e-affidavits and digital delivery of orders have been implemented. Notices will now be distributed through WhatsApp and SMS.
One of the focuses, alongside digitalisation and more so a reasoning, was to make the matters of the court more accessible to the common citizen, which is what the second pillar addresses. "Improving access and accountability," as coined by the chief justice, refers to making the judicial system a corruption-free and transparent zone.
A hotline has been set up solely dedicated to providing an anonymous and safe way for citizens to report incidents of various corrupt practices, without having to fear the consequences of lodging the complaint. Each report will be tracked and addressed within 30-60 days, depending on the nature of the complaint.
When addressing the financial aspect of the Judiciary, it was announced that an external audit of the court accounts from 2024-2025 was conducted by the Audit Department of the Government of Pakistan. The result of that audit has reached the courts and the concerns raised are being addressed.
A new initiative on the standardization of processes and quality assurance has been implemented and will be formalized soon. The court has also taken steps to aid overseas litigants by setting up an Overseas Litigants Facilitation Center.
The third pillar on the agenda was "strengthening legal and regulatory framework", referring to the steps the court is going to take to utilise Artificial Intelligence. Most of these procedures were already in practised and advised but now they will be formlaised through the implementation of rules.
"Everyone talks about technology and artificial intelligence," and so the 61,000 files will be digitally scanned and the project will be completed in six months. Once the cases have been scanned, the use of AI will be implemented and used for tasks such as scheduling cases.
New policies and Standards of Procedures will be conducted that would assist in the Policy of Early Hearings and Out-of-turn Fixation of cases. CJ Afridi stated that Judges are not restricted from travelling during vacations during judicial recess however, for ordinary leave, the Judges must inform the administration. These SOPs would further address court rest houses and vehicles, and the granting of leave for judges.
The chief justice addressed the contentious topic of security vehicles and that these will be restricted not just for other judges but for the chief justice himself. If the person of interest resides within Islamabad, they have no use for excessive security but if they are travelling or in need, then extra security vehicles will be provided.
Pending cases and delays in hearings were highlighted, with the chief justice stating that the number of pending cases has not decreased despite the increase in the number of judges. He answered this by stating that last year, 42,666 cases were registered and this year,77,433 cases have been registered. Last year, lawyers submitted 22,425 adjournment requests and this year the number increased to 56,449 adjournment requests.
The Pakistani courts is about to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Supreme People's Court of China, and a draft MoU with the Constitutional Court of Turkiye is being reviewed.
The court is also participating in cooperative exchanges with the Supreme Courts of Bangladesh, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Denmark. This is done with the globalisation of our world in mind, the chief justice stated that existing in isolation is no longer beneficial nor possible.
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