17 October 2004	Sunday	02 Ramazan 1425

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 16: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Saturday the government was committed to ensuring availability of justice to the people and was working on a comprehensive reform agenda to reduce pending and under-trial cases.

He was presiding over a meeting on the Access to Justice Programme at the Prime Minister House here.

Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Wasi Zafar, Minister of State for Law and Justice, Shahid Akram Bhindar, high officials of the ministry and the Asian Development Bank attended the meeting.

The prime minister said the people had the feeling that laws were not sufficient to provide them speedy justice and they had to wait for long to get relief from the courts.

He said the lower courts were facing the problems of less judges and a mismatch between the pendency and judicial staff.

The prime minister said: "We have to undertake quick initiatives like reducing the trial time, adding more judges, changing laws and looking at root causes responsible for delay in imparting justice."

He said the government, the judiciary and the bar could collectively play a pivotal role in providing quick relief to the people.

Mr Aziz said the government would provide adequate human resources and financial assistance to improve the judicial system.

He appreciated the efforts of Asian Development Bank for providing $350 million to Pakistan for the Access to Justice Programme.

He said the bar would recommend measures to ensure quick dispensation of justice and reducing pendency in courts.

He said the judiciary should put in extra efforts to clear the backlog of cases and ensure easy access to justice.

The prime minister urged the ministry to evolve a system where one-window redressal of citizen's complaints could be ensured.

He directed the law and justice ministry to formulate proposals in the public interest for providing quick relief to people arrested or nabbed on suspicion.

Matters pertaining to grant of bails to women in minor offences were also discussed.

The meeting was informed that the law regarding realizing the full bail bond money from the surety was being processed so that the power of attorney should be revalidated in regular intervals, and the whereabouts of the person awarding power of attorney could be ascertained, and the same could not be misused.

The prime minister directed that Urgent Mail Service (UMS) counters be established at the court complexes, so that the statements of witnesses could be obtained in the shortest span of time, to reduce frivolous litigation and curtail the procedural delays.

The prime minister was of the view that at present complex procedural requirements were creating delays in the dispensation of justice.

He asked the ministry to evolve a strategy to curtail procedural delays and to provide timely relief to the people.

The prime minister also directed the ministry to update the pendency record at the level of high courts and the Supreme Court. -APP