PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court senior puisne judge Justice Anwar said here on Tuesday that legal system must guarantee effective protection of fundamental rights.

He said that legal rights should be determined through application of law and not through arbitrary or discretionary actions. He stated that the country faced considerable challenges in strengthening rule of law. He added criminal justice system, in particular, required substantial reforms.

“However, these challenges are not insurmountable. Instead, they offer an opportunity for stakeholders to unite and undertake coordinated efforts,” Justice Ijaz Anwar said at opening ceremony of a two-day workshop on annual work plan and performance indicators for provincial justice committee (PJC) and district criminal justice coordination committees (DCJCCs) at Peshawar High Court.

The workshop has been organised by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy in collaboration with Peshawar High Court, UNDP, European Union, UN Women, and UNODC.

Two-day workshop on improving criminal justice system begins

Other participants included PHC Registrar Mohammadzeb Khan, the director general of KP Judicial Academy (KPJA), Jehanzeb Shinwari, district and sessions judges, special secretary of home and tribal affairs department, additional secretary of social welfare, inspector general prisons, director of National Judicial Policy Implementation Cell (NJPIC), police officers, director general of prosecution, vice-chairman of KP Bar Council, president of PHC Bar Association, director of Reclamation and Probation Directorate and representatives of development sector, UNDP, UN-Women, UNODC and EU.

The workshop, organised under ‘deliver justice project’, aims at strengthening rule of law and improving criminal justice system in KP, with a focus on coordination among justice sector institutions.

The main objective of the workshop is to ensure cooperation, coordination and communication between PJC and DCJCC to address challenges like huge pendency, prison overcrowding and gender-based violence, aligning with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rule of Law Roadmap 2023-2028.

Justice Ijaz Anwar said that under the rule of law, ‘deliver justice project’ was a great initiative and legal system must guarantee basic human rights. He said that the country faced different challenges so it was important to focus on making PJC and DCJCCs stronger.

“PJC is the only forum that brings all the justice sector stakeholders together. With its statutory mandate to shape rule of law policies, enhance justice sector entities’ coordination, review the performance of, and provide policy guidance to DCJCCs, PJC is the key apex body for justice sector reforms,” the senior judge said.

Earlier, Mohammadzeb Khan, in his welcome address, highlighted the aims and objectives of the workshop and stated that it was meant to improve coordination among stakeholders of criminal justice system.

He said that the workshop would make useful recommendations and develop an action plan to improve cooperation, coordination and communication between PJC and DCJCCs to streamline information flows, facilitate sharing of best practices, address key challenges and monitor performance.

Shahzada Bashir Ahmad, a representative of UNDP, highlighted background of ‘deliver justice project’ and elaborated that with the support of European Union, UNDP, UN Women and UNODC they were implementing the project ‘promoting rule of law and improving criminal justice system’ in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2025