ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of Law and Justice Commission (LJC) which was formed 40 years ago to improve the judicial system of the country.

The committee, headed by Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi, criticised the performance of the LJC — which is led by the Chief Justice of Pakistan — and called for its reform.

The last meeting of the commission was held in 2015. Since its inception the LJC prepared 138 reports, of which action was taken on 35 reports, 27 were being implemented while 74 reports were unaddressed. Members of the committee were of the view that the research wing of the commission should be improved as it had so far assisted the Supreme Court in 15 cases only.

Senator Abbasi insisted that all chief justices of high courts should be included in the commission.

However, former law minister and senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Farooq H. Naek, lamented that not a single parliamentarian was part of the LJC. The committee then called for legislation to induct other members in the commission.

The meeting also sought details about utilisation of the access to justice fund (AJF) which was formed for the needy and poor people.

The panel was apprised that the AJF had an amount of Rs1.42 billion that had been invested in different government projects and earned a profit of Rs2.9bn. The total amount of the fund invested in profit earning projects was said to be Rs3.58bn.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2018