Govt has failed to ensure swift justice: CJ

ISLAMABAD:

The federal government has failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to ensure inexpensive and swift justice, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Saturday.

Addressing the governing body of the Access to Justice Development Fund (AJDF) at the Supreme Court building, Justice Chaudhry observed that despite repeated requests for finances to improve district-level judiciary, the government still had not released any funds.

“The Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan and the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee have forwarded demands for high courts to the federal government and the prime minister regarding the allocation of funds to strengthen the district judiciary in terms of human resource and infrastructure,” he noted in his address.

Unfortunately, he said, the government did not respond despite the lapse of considerable time and repeated references. Chief Justice Chaudhry said the hard work of judges and the independent and impartial dispensation of justice had changed the public perception of the judiciary.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2013.