ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khan Khosa on Monday approved the release of funds from the Access to Justice Development Fund (AJDF) to the Islamabad High Court and federal and provincial judicial academies.

According to a press release issued on Monday, a meeting of the governing body of the AJDF was held at the Supreme Court building. The meeting was chaired by CJP Asif Saeed Khosa.

The chief justices and judges of all high courts, the law and justice secretary, additional finance secretary and the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) secretary attended the meeting.

According to the statement, LJCP secretary Dr Mohammad Raheem Awan briefed the meeting on the Access to Justice Development Fund, its mandate, functioning and the status of funds released to the high courts for specific purposes.

The CJP appreciated the role of the fund in capacity building and infrastructural development of the sub-ordinate judiciary throughout the country.

He reiterated that the under-resourced judiciary would be strengthened and supported through the AJDF for important infrastructural development, automation and other projects for sub-ordinate courts that were otherwise not provided in the regular budget.

The LJCP chairman stressed the need for timely and effective utilisation of the funds released to respective high courts.

Chief Justice Khosa asked the LJCP secretariat to explore the possibility of providing funds for the establishment of centre of excellence at the Federal Judicial Academy and research centres in district and sessions courts.

The LJCP secretary presented the complete status of funds released to the respective high courts up to the financial year 2017-18 and briefed the meeting on future allocation that was unanimously approved by the committee.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2019