Report on Judicial Reforms

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIAL REFORMS LAW, PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS & HUMAN RIGHTS DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF THE PUNJAB . CONTENTS Sr. No. Contents Page 1. Preface 2. Contents 3. Executive Summary 4. Introduction 5. Legal Education 6. Improving Legal Education Standard 7. Recruitment/Promotion of Judicial Officers 8. Training of Judicial Officer 9. Continued Legal Education Provincial Judicial Academy 10. Alternate Dispute Resolution Process 11. Administrative Measures 12. Investigation 13. Disposal of Backlog 14. Coordination between Bench & Bar 15. Law Commission 16. Recommendations at a glance. ANNEXURES Annex ‘A’ Regulations providing for pre-service & in-service training of judicial officers. Annex ‘B’ Provincial Judicial Academy Act 2007. Annex ‘C’ Proposed amendments in the Provincial Judicial Academy Act. Annex ‘D’ Proposed draft of Order XA to be added in CPC. Annex ‘E’ Draft instructions on Standard of Conduct of Arbitrators/Mediators” proposal to the High court Annex ‘F’ “Allocation Questionnaire Form” Proposed specimen to be filed in newly constituted suits/cases/or cases pending before coming into force of Order X.A Annex ‘G’ “Allocation Questionnaire Form” (To be filled in Family Matters) Annex ‘H’ “Allocation Questionnaire Form” (To be filed in Appeals). Annex ‘J’ Letter requesting High Court to ensure compliance of its instruction regarding expeditious disposal etc. 2 PREFACE The electorate in Pakistan has returned those political parties and political personalities to the corridors of power, who spoke of independence of judiciary and of strengthening the administration of justice so as to provide justice and relief to the citizens. Only vibrant and effective justice system can ensure enjoyment of fundamental rights by the common man. The redressal of grievances leads to harmony, peace and stabilizing the society by maintaining law and order. The Honourable Chief Minister, Punjab, after taking over the office, as a matter of priority, constituted a committee to suggest measures for revamping the justice system which will not only ensure independence of judiciary but will also strengthen the system through capacity building in order to enable it to grant relief and redress grievances of the citizens. This report authored by Mr. Justice ® Khalil-ur-Rehman Khan records the deliberations of the committee and the recommendations made after consulting all the stake-holders, institutions and persons concerned. The Committee and its Chairman acknowledges the support provided by the officers of Law Department, Secretary, Higher Education Department, Vice Chancellors of Punjab University, Islamia University Bahawalpur, Baha-ud-Din Zikarya University Multan, Principals of Law Colleges of Lahore and all others institutions. The Chairman also acknowledges the dedication with which the Honourable members of the Committee contributed their wisdom, expertise and experience all of which has culminated in the suggestions and recommendations contained herein. 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons; this was stated by Russian Novelist – Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881). The true picture of the state of judicial system and administration of justice will emerge from the working of the courts and the number of cases awaiting adjudication. The total pending cases as on 30th June 2008 in Lahore High Court were 81173, in Sessions Courts were 104513, in the Courts of Civil Judges cum Magistrates were 1114813. The result is that at present 59439 persons are confined against the authorized accommodation of 21527, in 32 Jails of the Province. The under trial prisoners are fourtimes as compared to convicted prisoners. The under-trial persons are 69% whereas convicted prisoners and condemned prisoners are respectively 19.50% and 11.50%. It is apparent that judicial system is not effective, vibrant and fluent and the law and order situation prevailing in the country manifest that people are loosing faith in the capability of administration of justice to redress their grievances. The enormity and magnitude of the problems and these issues calls for deep study so that remedial measures are taken before the entire system collapses, chaos and anarchy prevails in the society. The Chief Minister, Punjab after taking over the reigns of Govt. constituted a Committee on Judicial Reforms to advise on the terms of reference for revamping the judicial system and streamlining the administration of justice, and to point out measures which can be adopted immediately as well as the long term measures of policy planning which need financial resources. The Committee after holding various meetings, receiving & collecting information from relevant quarters and stake-holders have made recommendations, in respect of the standard of legal education, affiliation of Law Colleges/Institutions with the Punjab University and the other Universities of Punjab (Public & Private Sector); appointment of judicial officers at all tiers of the District Judiciary; training of judicial officer (pre-service and in service, refresher courses); Provincial Judicial Academy, its establishment and role of capacity building of all concerned with administration of justice; streamlining and improving the working of judicial system by implementing instructions & rules of the Lahore High Court; measures needed for expeditious disposal of cases; improving the system & methods of investigation of criminal cases and disposal of reports regarding cancellation of cases by Magistrates; Measures needed to reduce the pendency (civil & criminal cases); Adoption of ADR Process by providing necessary infrastructure, Rules and instructions as well as by training of judicial officers, lawyers, Accountants, Engineers, Architects and other professionals. Both the short term and long term measures have been proposed with the view to improve the working of the Courts and related authorities, persons and offices. 4 INTRODUCTION The Honourable Chief Minister Punjab soon after taking over the charge of his officer, taking notice of the deteriorating law & order situation and urgency of improvement in the administration of judicial system and with the view to ensure independence of judiciary constituted a committee of the following persons to advise judicial reforms:- 1. Mr. Justice ® Khalil-ur-Rehman Khan Chairman 2. Rana Sana Ullah Khan, Minister for Law Member 3. Khawaja Haris, Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan Member 4. Mr. Ashtar Ausaf Ali, Advocate Supreme Court of Member Pakistan 5. Secretary, Law Department. Member 6. Secretary, Home Department Member 7. Secretary, Public Prosecution Department. Member The terms of reference for this committee are:- 1. To examine the criminal and civil procedural laws, identify weaknesses and lacunae and suggest remedial measures and reform so as to reduce abuse of process and streamline the trial; 2. To examine the method and process of induction into the lower judiciary, identify fault lines in the system and suggest reform measures aimed at ensuring induction of motivated, committed and competent judges at the lower levels; 3. To examine the state of training of judges ion lower judiciary and to suggest ways and means to improve it; 4. To examine the general state of working of lower judiciary, identify high priority areas and recommend measures to bring immediate surge in performance of lower courts; 5. To identify the gaps in training of lower officials in lower courts and suggest ways and means to overcome these; and 6. To suggest broad measures to overcome massive pendency in the lower courts. In order to achieve these objectives, views and relevant data from all stakeholders including High Court; District & Session Judges, Principals of Law Colleges, Head of Universities of Public as well as Private Sector and Prosecution Department were obtained. The committee duly discussed and deliberated upon the data and the views of the stakeholders in the light of the Law, Rules and the standards set forth by the Pakistan Bar Council. The committee after deep consideration of all the material, data and views has come to the following conclusions for the reasons stated hereunder in respect of the terms of reference:- Legal Education In addition to the Punjab University Law College, Lahore, 22 Laws Colleges have been granted affiliation by the Punjab University and their Colleges are admitting almost 5 3500 students to the Law Courses leading to LLB Degree every year. Likewise Islamia University Bahawalpur and Bahauddin Zikaria University Multan in their own Law Colleges and legal institutions 17 in number affiliated with it are admitting three thousand students in legal studies leading to LLB Degree. There are some (2/3) Centre of legal studies which are affiliated with British Universities, are offering law courses and granting degree of these Universities and are charging almost Three lac Rupees from each student every year. The fees in private sector Law Colleges affiliated with local Universities is in thousands and is much more than the fee being charged by Law Colleges of these Universities. The standard of education and courses being offered needs improvement. In order to evaluate the standards, Affiliation Committee of the University of Punjab was requested to visit these affiliated colleges to examine and assess whether these institutions are complying with the affiliation criteria and the prescribed standards and also fix the number of seats for which admission is to be granted by each of them.

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