KARACHI, Feb 5: Litigants and lawyers will be able to file a case even without going to the court, thanks to a project for automation of judiciary being implemented under an Asian Development Bank loan of $350 million. Under the project all necessary information about court cases such as court orders, verdicts, evidence, and the cause list will be available on a website.

The project is part of the Access to Justice programme (ATJ) started in 2001. Giving details Manager Provincial Programme Management Unit Mohammad Shahid Shafiq said that for the purpose of automation 386 computers had been provided and relevant software being developed.The fully automated district courts will start functioning in six months. Under the ATJ programme new court buildings have been built with modern facilities. These include a court complex housing 14 courts in Malir, 15 new court buildings in Hyderabad, Ghotki 6, Thatta 3, Tando Allahyar 3, Matli Badin 3, Mirpurkhas 3, Dadu 3. The existing courts have been shifted to the new buildings and are working. About 50 court buildings are at present under construction.

Under the ATJ several new police stations and prisons have been constructed while land to build a new jail in Hyderabad has been acquired. A reformatory school for juvenile is also planned. Three regional offices for the Sindh Ombudsman have been built.

To simplify language of law, law books are being translated in easy Urdu and Sindhi. These books will be provided to the litigants and lawyers free-of-cost.

To reward judges for extraordinary performance 40 judges were given book vouchers of Rs20,000 each, besides laptops provided to 40 judges. To improve performance of the court baliffs 100 motorcycles will be distributed among them all over Sindh.