MARDAN, Sept 1: District and Sessions Judge Syed Yahya Zahid Gilani on Saturday said that remedial steps should be taken to curb delays in disposal of cases.

The judge was addressing a one-day regional seminar on capacity building of the Criminal Justice Coordination Committees (CJCCs).

The seminar was organised by the district judiciary on the directives of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) under the Access to Justice Pogramme.

The seminar was attended by district and sessions judges of Mardan, Charsadda, Peshawar, Nowshera, Swabi and Hangu.

The first session of the seminar was presided over by Charsadda District and Sessions Judge Ghulam Mahiuddin Malik.

Mr Gilani said that according to Police Order 2002, Chief Justice of the PHC, IG police, investigation, prosecution, jail and probation officers were members of the CJCCs.

He said the basic work of the CJCCs was to monitor and analyse the criminal justice system, exchange views and information and to help implement decisions of the committees.

Mr Gilani said non-availability of facilities was one of the factors which caused delays in the disposal of cases.

Giving details, he said there was only one laboratory in the entire province — in Peshawar — which carried out investigations relating to a large number of cases, adding that if more laboratories were established, delays in disposal of cases could be controlled.

Peshawar District and Sessions Judge Miftahuddin Khan, presiding over the second session, said the CJCCs had been established under Section 110 of the

Police Order 2002 in different districts and the committees were now playing an important role in speeding up disposal of cases.

Hangu District and Sessions Judge Qalandar Ali said the CJCCs would prove to be successful only when people said goodbye to revenge.