JUSTICE is an essential component of society everywhere and the provision of it an essential responsibility of the state. Given that state infrastructure in Pakistan, including the courts, tends to be located in urban areas, there are a great many areas where the justice system has little to no reach. From the villages and towns in the mountains of the tribal areas and the northwest parts of the country to the interior of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, the complaint is frequently heard that citizens cannot benefit from the court system because it is located too far away. How serious an issue this is can be gauged from the fact that several years ago, in the run-up to the Taliban’s takeover of Swat, the people of the area initially responded to the extremist group’s promise of providing speedy justice. And lack of access to the justice system is what, in part, allows forums such as jirgas — whose version of fair-dealing often involves illegal practices such as using women as dispute-settlement currency — to continue to be convened.

It is in this context that the mobile courts system inaugurated on the premises of the Peshawar High Court on Saturday must be viewed. The court has been pursuing the matter for over a year and it is to its credit that it has achieved its aim through notifications despite the inaction of the provincial government to pass the relevant laws. The idea behind the system is sound: the specially designed vehicle will travel about to resolve petty criminal and civil disputes. The idea has proved effective in India and Bangladesh and could prove of value here too. There are several parts of the country where an effective mobile court system could help aggrieved citizens.