ISLAMABAD: The first inter-province consensus on the rule of law reforms has been achieved at a meeting convened by the United Nations Office for Crime and Drugs (UNODC) and the British High Commission in Bhurban on Tuesday.

According to UNODC, key executives and members of the judiciary and those of civil society from Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa agreed on the importance of the rule of law roadmap implementation plans to deliver better justice outcomes for all citizens.

Members of the police, forensics, prosecutions, parole and probation departments as well as judicial officials from Balochistan, KP and Punjab emphasised the value of strong cross-institutional engagement in securing buy-in to the roadmap processes. Officials from Sindh confirmed their roadmap would be completed by the end of this year.

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Home Minister Shaukat Javed said that improving the rule of law was not only about convicting criminals; it was also about building confidence among the citizens that the state could provide justice, thereby picking up on a common interest in all provincial roadmaps.

Welcoming the opportunity afforded to build synergies between the provinces on common law challenges and lesson learning, Mr Javed recommended that a list of rule of law priorities should be presented to the new administration, and that the federal government should play a coordinating role at the national level.

He pointed out that Punjab, like other provinces, had introduced some path-breaking reforms in the past few months — such as the Witness Protection Act and Legal Aid Act — which he hoped would improve the citizens’ experience of the justice system.

Secretary of the Law and Justice Commission Dr Muhammad Raheem Awan emphasised the pivotal role the provincial justice committees could play in bringing all law actors together around a systemic problem.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2018