LAHORE, Sept 24: The second Punjab judicial conference was informed here on Saturday that all tiers of judiciary, including the civil courts, would attain complete automation by the mid of the next year under a three-year programme. Lahore High Court registrar Dost Mohammad Malik, who chaired the concluding session of the one-day conference, said computerization and database was an essential part of the automation plan and it would facilitate the case management and enhance the working capacity of courts in the province.

Judges of the LHC, district and sessions courts, senior civil judges and senior officers of the LHC attended the conference in addition to the representatives of the Asian Development Bank.

Mr Malik said the programme was launched as part of judicial reforms in the year 2003-04 with the financial and technical assistance under the ADB-sponsored ‘Access to Justice Programme’ which had a specific goal of providing low-cost and speedy justice to the people.

He said computers were introduced in the district courts for the first time in July 2003, and with in two years this facility had been extended to 13 districts where databases and computerized court proceedings had been introduced. By the end of the next fiscal year the facility would be extended to all civil courts across the province, he claimed.

The registrar said the development fund of the high court had also risen to Rs644 million in 2004-05 as compared to Rs40 million of the previous years. Similarly, the ADB-funded programme also helped develop district judicial complexes in addition to new courtrooms and residential facilities for judicial officers throughout the province.

Meanwhile, in his message to the conference, Chief Justice Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry said modern concepts like alternative dispute resolution, professional courts and the case management system were steps that could help meet diverse judicial requirements.

He said monitoring of various tiers of the judiciary in the administration of justice, evaluation of procedures and promotion of public awareness formed the basis of the LHC policy to use modern methods for ensuring inexpensive and speedy justice to the people.

Justice Chaudhry called on district and sessions judges to use new techniques as a social obligation. He said the district tier was the most important wing of the judiciary and keeping pace with modern requirements was absolutely necessary for them in dispensation of justice.

Reading out his paper, Justice Khwaja Mohammad Sharif said corruption, favouritism, incompetence and inordinate delay in disposal of cases had become the hallmark of the subordinate judiciary. Average pendency of cases with the sessions courts was about 70 cases a day while the same number was 100 in civil courts, which was by all standards a high rate.

Presiding over the second session of the conference, Justice Sharif said the situation required a role by the high court which was more than a supervisory discipline of the subordinate courts. The high court, he said, should not confine itself to a mere watchdog institution but should step into such a legal domain as to ensure that it played a pro-active role for the social, economic and political development of the country.

He suggested a close monitoring of the judicial officers and their working. For instance, he said, judicial officers should be required to submit the declaration of his or her assets at the time of induction. The declarations should be updated annually to ensure that they had got no illegal gains while in the office.

In his paper, Justice Sheikh Abdur Rashid said the addition of sub-section (6) to section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code in 2002 assigned the district and sessions judges the role of ex-officio justices of peace with the objective of providing justice at the doorstep. However, since the institution was new, the sessions judges would have to be careful in exercising their power which, he said, had been fully spelled out by a full bench of the Lahore High Court in the case of Khizer Hayat and another Vs the inspector-general of police and others (PLD 2005 Lahore 470) and which could serve as guideline for the subordinate judiciary.

Justice Rashid said the institution was introduced to help check police excesses, particularly non-registration of cases, improper or defective investigation and other complaints which had gone up with the passage of time. However, the institution of justices of peace was only administrative and ministerial in character. They should in no way were empowered to interfere in investigation of criminal cases as was laid down by the Lahore High Court, he added.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial dealt with alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in his paper including the concepts of arbitration, mediation and conciliation in addition to encouraging dialogue between parties to a dispute.

He said the amendment to the Civil Procedure Code in 2002 empowered all courts to refer suitable cases for the ADR although procedural rules were yet to be framed. Justice Bandial said the Small Claims and Minor Offences Courts Ordinance of 2002 was a significant step towards the ADR system which provided for conciliation as a major source of dispute resolution.

He said the system was voluntary in nature and had the benefit of avoiding prolonged litigation through informal proceedings although such a decision was not binding on parties and did not prejudice their right to judicial remedy.

He said that such system had been in practice since ages and institutions of ‘panchayat’ and ‘jirga’ were based on the voluntary practice of resolving disputes through mediation and conciliation and it enjoyed a social recognition.

Justice Syed Zahid Husain, who chaired the first session of the conference, dealt with the same subject saying that alternate dispute resolution was an effective method to consolidate society. He, however, said that despite the ADR system there seemed little awareness as a result of which courts continued to be burdened by increasing litigation.

Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Razvi focused on the introduction of information technology in the judiciary which, he said, had benefited judges, lawyers and the litigant public alike.