New judicial year: SC working comes under scanner

Additional AG advises judges not to pick up issues bringing them disrepute.

ISLAMABAD:

Serious reservations were voiced against the functioning of the Supreme Court by the Attorney General’s office on the eve of the first day of the judicial year.

The judiciary should not pick up issues which bring judges into controversy and fail to advance the cause of justice, said Additional Attorney General (AG) Habib Ullah Shakir.

He said that recusal must be indiscriminately applied to judges in the Supreme Court based on their code of conduct.

Shakir added that in order to expedite judicial processes, a proposed list of the fixation of cases be made available at least a month in advance.

The Additional AG also said that the Supreme Court’s judicial policy, formulated to make judicial proceedings both speedy and effective, was initially considered a great achievement. Unfortunately, it has yielded no fruitful result. He went on to stress the need for justice which is both expeditious and inexpensive.

The other side of the coin

Addressing on the occasion, Vice President Pakistan Bar Council and President Supreme Court Bar Association Yasin Azad suggested that the apex court should discourage unnecessary and frivolous litigation.

Azad said that until the parliament considers rectification, the apex court may lay down rules and procedures to punish those who waste the judiciary’s precious time.

The lawyers’ representatives also shared the bar’s consensus on the recent appointment of judges. They said that a judge must personify absolute integrity, good knowledge of law, and impartiality.

Addressing the ceremony, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that the judiciary has a primary role in the justice delivery system. However, all the authorities and institutions, including executive and the legislature, have to render auxiliary support and cooperation for the administration of justice and execution of the judicial process.

The ceremony was attended by all the judges of the apex court, law officers of the country as well as advocate generals from all the provinces.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2012.