PESHAWAR, Aug 17: A court administrator office on district-level will be established in every district under the “Access to Justice Programme” in all the four provinces.

This was informed in a provincial judicial conference of all the district and sessions judges and senior civil judges of the NWFP here on Sunday with a single item agenda “Establishment of the office of court administrator at the district level.” The programme has been funded by the Asian Development Bank.

The speakers stated that the establishment of the said office in every district would ease the work-load on the district and sessions judges as well as the senior civil judges.

Presently, apart from their judicial functions, the two judicial officers have to look after administrative functions of different courts which result in wastage of their precious time, said the speakers.

The chief justice of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, in his concluding remarks said: “Improving court management and administration can strengthen judicial independence and impartiality because a judicial system that executes its normal functions in an orderly manner builds public confidence and respect.”

He added that they were witnessing that the administrative duties of their two district judicial officers, district and sessions judge and senior civil judge, were growing rapidly and suddenly.

“It is hoped that the creation of this organ at our district judiciary level will not only help the district and sessions judges and senior civil judges to focus more on pure judicial work but will also help address the ever-growing administrative responsibilities of these two courts and our interaction with other government departments in the district,” he maintained.

The chief justice said that by building administrative system, they hoped, it would bring improvement in their planning and budgeting and streamline their statistical information about courts performance.

However, he added, they would be required to work with dedication and make concrete efforts to develop the knowledge, skills, technique, and leadership, which were essential for court administration and management.

Papers were presented on the need and importance of the office of the proposed court administrator by former chief justice of Pakistan, Justice (Retd) Bashir Jehangiri, a former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice (R) Fazal Karim and a judge of PHC, Justice Ejaz Afzal.

Member inspection team of the high court, Mohammad Sher Shah, while highlighting the objectives of the conference said: “In addition to the responsibilities featured in the High Court Rules and Orders, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Police Order, the Local Government Ordinance and other laws, various reforms projects have added to the duties and functions of the district and sessions judges and senior civil judges. This requires proficient and specialised administrative skills, so as to avoid waste of time to the prejudice of judicial work.”