PESHAWAR, March 31: Speakers at the first judicial conference observed that judges at all levels are required to be equipped with devotion, missionary spirit, and above all, impartiality to address the basic problems of judicial administration and case management.

Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court, was the chief guest at the inaugural session, says a press release issued here on Sunday.

He said that the judicial leadership is required to be impartial and competent so that the legal entitlements of the marginalized and vulnerable groups of the society could be restored.

He referred to various steps and measures, which are underway to restore public confidence, increase pace and reduce cost of litigation, strengthen legitimacy of institution and ensure greater transparency and accountability.

He endorsed and supported the reform agenda with reference to the achievements made by the Peshawar High Court in this regard about complete separation of judiciary from executive, review of the method of recruitment of the subordinate judges, delay reduction and public amenities in the court premises.

He informed the participants that the additional infrastructure for the working on the reform agenda included training of judicial officers and court personnel, court automation, development of websites, equipments, public amenities, information kiosks. “We have hard works to do, loads to lift, shun not the struggle, its God’s gift,” said the PHC CJ.

The conference was attended, among others, by provincial law minister Athar Minallah, all the judges of the Peshawar High Court, director-general Federal Judicial Academy, Islamabad, secretary law NWFP, registrars of supreme court and high courts and district and sessions judges in the NWFP.

The aims and objectives of the conference were to create, reinforce, cement, and demonstrate the sense of accountability in the judiciary to serve and protect the people, particularly the poor.

Athar Minallah, Justice Shafi-ur-Rehman, senior advisor to the Government of Pakistan, Justice K.M.A. Samdani, advocate supreme court, Livingston Armytage, Asia Foundation, Z.M. Jauhar, Zia-ud- Din Khattak, Dr Khalid Rashid and others spoke on the law reforms in the NWFP, overview and progress report on delay reduction project, judicial conduct, overview of the access to justice programme, bench-bar relations and role of computers in courts.