Path to success: ‘Legal system in Sindh has fewer delays than other provinces’

Legal Aid Office publishes annual report on criminal justice system.

KARACHI: The legal system in Sindh is doing better than other provinces partly due to fewer delays, said Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid on Saturday.

The chairperson of the Committee for Welfare of Prisoners-Legal Aid Office was speaking at the launch of their Annual Research Report 2015 titled 'Sindh Prisons, A Review of the Criminal Justice System'.

"In Sindh, only 100,000 cases are pending in the civil courts while, in the Punjab, there are over a million," he said.

Overcrowding in Sindh's jails is, however, a big concern. The largest prison facility in Sindh, Karachi Central Jail, accommodates 5,744 adult male prisoners against the authorised capacity of 2,400.

However, the population for women has remained 150 against a capacity of 510 since 2009. For juveniles too, the figures have remained below capacity at 590 prisoners in the last seven years. In addition, the report states that, in 18 of the 40 prison facilities visited in Sindh, 10 prisons did not have hardened or habitual prisoners separated from the casual offenders.

In his keynote address Sindh High Court chief justice Faisal Arab spoke about the significance of reforming and rehabilitating prisoners. "Simply imprisoning a person is not a deterrent to crime," he said. "We have seen that prisons have served as breeding grounds for criminals. We have to substantially reduce this possibility."

Justice Arab added that programmes for literacy and vocational training should be given to change their thinking so that once they leave they can contribute to society in better ways.

According to findings of the survey conducted by the research team, 36 per cent of under-trial prisoners (UTPs) responded that they have not been provided legal representation. While 67 per cent of the UTPs said that the court took no interest in their cases.

In response to this, DIG Abdul Khaliq Sheikh said that not all the prisoners produced in the courts are examined by the courts. "The version of the other side should also be accommodated in this report," he said.

On the report's recommendations on the training of investigative officers, he said that a detective school has been established in Sindh. "We have developed a basic investigation tool and an advanced tool is coming up soon," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2015.