IN order to ensure a speedy justice system, high-powered judges should be posted at the union council level in rural areas and at the ward level in urban areas. They should be assisted by specially trained investigation teams for carrying out on-the-spot investigation and the lawyers paid by the state.

When a crime takes place in an area, it should be promptly reported to the judge by the local councilor who should be liable to punishment if he fails to do so in a specified time.

The judge should send the investigation team to the crime scene. He may also visit the area to meet people if he considers it necessary at any stage. The investigation teams should prepare a summary of evidence based on which the trial should commence without wasting time.

The local police, given the task to assist the judge, are used to apprehend criminals. They do not have any role in investigations. The judge should be made responsible for providing justice for which he is employed and not merely disposing of cases. Victims should not be made to buy justice, a double tragedy, and virtually no justice despite an elaborate infrastructure provided by the state.

While cases of criminal nature are decided by the judge himself, for cases relating to property and financial transactions, the judge should form tribunals to decide the cases promptly.

Provision of justice is the first step to arrest our slide to abyss. Addressing other problems will become easier when an effective system to ensure justice is put in place.

COL (Rtd) NAZIR AHMEDIslamabad