09 January 2005	Sunday	27 Ziqa'ad 1425

ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: Law Minister Wasi Zafar on Saturday said the four high courts were not only monitoring their own performance but also that of the lower courts to reduce delays in disposal of cases.

In a statement, the minister said the performance was being monitored in line with the guidelines suggested by the government to the high courts for enhancing the performance of the courts, especially that of the lower judiciary.

The minister said the high courts were monitoring the implementation of these guidelines and some designated model courts had considerably reduced delays.

Mr Zafar said the high courts had also adopted an incentives and reward policy to supplement its efforts to reduce delays in the disposal of cases. In this regard, he said, the Lahore High Court had introduced leave-encashment system, while the Peshawar High Court had prepared a comprehensive reward mechanism. Similarly, the Sindh High Court plans to award appreciation certificates against good performances.

Mr Zafar said efforts were also being made to establish separate civil and criminal courts and all the high courts had finalized the criteria and prepared action plans for implementing this initiative.