Know your rights: Peshawar High Court embarks on innovative mass awareness project

The project aims to educate people on a range of legal issues through a television and radio channel.

PESHAWAR:

Considering that the law is often flouted, putting vulnerable people at a disadvantage, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) has decided to empower citizens with knowledge of not only their rights but also the process for seeking legal recourse.

Through a project called the Distant Education and Learning Programme (DELP), the PHC aims to launch a television and radio channel to educate people on a whole range of issues, including child and women’s rights and laws related to the police.

“The reason people continue to suffer is that they are unaware of their basic rights,” said PHC Chief Justice (CJ) Dost Muhammad Khan, during an interview with reporters at his chamber on Friday. “The public is being exploited and this project is designed to educate the people, especially those who are illiterate and live in far-flung areas.”

CJ Khan said that the project will also focus on the steps necessary for registering and instituting a case and accessing the courts.

“We will enlist a separate panel of lawyers, but only those who will offer their services at a discounted rate. The judicial academy is also part of the project,” CJ Khan said.

He said the judicial academy will be connected to all courts and bar associations across the province through a server, enabling judges and lawyers to access judgments, including those of international courts, with a single click.

The project will cost $62 million and 70 per cent of the paperwork has been completed, CJ Khan said. “The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government is ready to provide Rs50 million. International donor agencies have also shown an interest in the project. These are revolutionary ideas and if implemented, they will bring about a change.”

The project, he said, will include a state-of-the-art forensic lab to improve police investigation skills, while foreign experts will also be hired.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2012.