ISLAMABAD: The chief justice should also look into the Access to Justice Development Fund (AJDF) as well, along with taking notice of issues in other departments, said Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice Chairman Justice Javed Abbasi on Thursday.

Chairing a meeting of the parliamentary body, Mr Abbasi said if immediate action is not taken, the people of Pakistan will not get speedy and inexpensive justice for the next 30 years.

Senator Abbasi, who belongs to PML-N, said AJDF was established in order to ensure speedy justice.

Pakistanis will not have speedy, inexpensive justice in the next 30 years if immediate action is not taken, senator says

“The fund was fully operational the last 12 years but no improvement has been observed. Being head of the AJDF, the chief justice should look into the matter, as the majority of the funds are unutilised,” he said.

The comments were given during a briefing given by Secretary Law and Justice Commission Dr Mohammad Raheem, who said that fund was established in 2002 and was made functional in 2005. It was started with an endowment fund of Rs141 million and the fund has earned around Rs3 billion by investments in different sectors.

He said the fund has so far released Rs542 million to provincial high courts in order to improve the infrastructure, automation of courts, facilities in courts and other facilities for litigants.

The funds can also be used for building lockups for prisoners, providing shade for litigants and providing generators to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the subordinate courts.

About the utilisation of the funds, Dr Raheem said 95pc of the fund was unutilised in Balochistan, 91pc in Sindh, 69pc in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 58pc in Punjab.

“We cannot give further funds as the existing ones could not be utilised. We want to utilise the funds for the most suitable causes so they are not provided for vehicles and laptops. In Islamabad family courts are established in the shops so we have suggested that family courts should be established at suitable places where not only all the facilities would be provided but children, who come along with parents during hearing of case, should feel as they have come for a picnic,” he said.

Senator Sirajul Haq, who belongs to Jamaat-i-Islami, said that as a representative of the fund, he can say not much is done and that a committee should take up the issue and play its role to address the problems faced by people.

Mr Abbasi said that it was unfortunate that the funds were not being spent. Efforts should be made to ensure facilities in district courts.

“We have to activate the fund which is headed by the chief justice. I suggest that the fund should not be placed under the judiciary and executive. We can recommend that the research wing of the Senate should see what the practices are in other countries for running such institutions,” he said.

A senior draftsman of the Ministry of Law and Justice Malik Hakim said that according to his information, such departments usually remain independent. He also said that across the world law ministries can directly table a bill in parliament.

Secretary Committee Rabia Anwar said that in India, the law commission can directly lay its bill in cabinet.

The committee decided to refer the matter to the Research Wing of Senate to analyse if AJDF can be made independent.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2018