KARACHI, May 13: No judicial reform should be introduced without consulting the Bar, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said at a seminar organized by the Sindh High Court Bar Association to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court on Saturday.
Referring to the topic of the seminar, the CJ said judicial reform and legal education were inseparably linked. Pakistan has a developed legal system but it needs improvement to meet the changing requirements. Lawyers were a vital component of the judicial system and reforms should be undertaken in consultation with all the stakeholders. He welcomed the prime minister’s proposal for establishment of a federal judicial academy but said a full-fledged law university was essential to improve the standard of legal education. He said he too was concerned over the mushroom growth of law colleges but said he would not dilate on the matter as two petitions agitating the issue were pending before the Supreme Court.
About case management, the CJ said it had improved and cases were now being heard by the apex court within days of their filing. Computerisation has also facilitated early hearing and disposal. Cause list and judgments were now available on the SC website. About the time being afforded for arguments, he said lawyers should also realize their responsibility in this behalf. Citing an example, he said a 35-year-old rent case with concurring judgments by the rent controller and the high court was brought before the SC with the request that it involved a citizen’s (tenant’s) fundamental right under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution. A stay was sought immediately, though the case might itself take another five six years to decide.
He urged the lawyers to see the ground realities and shun frivolous litigation. The judiciary was not there to make laws and legislatures were functioning, thankfully without premature dissolution for the first time in decades.
Addressing the seminar earlier, Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed of the Sindh High Court said the judiciary’s performance evaluation was generally undertaken on the basis of cases that hit newspaper headlines. Little emphasis was attached to decisions of far greater significance to the common man. He said the Supreme Court started taking a broad-based view of its jurisdiction after the retirement of Justice Mohammad Munir. The court has now structured the exercise of discretionary power by administrative functionaries. Even in matters of grant of licences, where the petitioner has acquired no legal right government functionaries were required to act in a fair and transparent manner, the SHC CJ said.
Professor Abrar Hasan said times have changed and people now wanted justification for the existence of every institution. Only those institutions that catered to the needs of the public would survive. The first and foremost duty of the Bench and the Bar, therefore, was to simplify the procedure in order to provide access to justice, which too was a fundamental right.
Supreme Court Bar Association President Malik Mohammad Qayyum said judicial reforms could succeed only if introduced in consultation with lawyers and their representative organisations. About the proposed federal court, he said if it could not be established without a constitutional amendment if high court powers were intended to be conferred on it.
Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan said the process of enrolment of advocates should further be streamlined and practising licences should not be distributed like political largesse.
Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi of the Sindh High Court dilated on the reformatory concept of punishment in the administration of criminal justice and emphasised the need for maintaining a balance between the various theories of punishment.
Justice Ms Qaiser Iqbal said the legal aid centres required to be institutionalised for proper and smooth functioning.
SHCBA President M. Ilyas Khan called for allocation of adequate amount for continuing legal education under the access to justice programme of the Asian Development. SHCBA Secretary Moin Azhar Siddiqui, Yawar Nasim Farooqui and AG Anwar Mansoor Khan also spoke.
