ISLAMABAD: During the first 100 days of Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, the judiciary has implemented significant reforms to enhance efficiency, transparency, accountability and accessibility in the justice sector.
These efforts have focused on improving case management, facilitating litigants and lawyers and ensuring timely resolution of legal matters, says a press release issued here on Friday.
It was stated that over the last 100 days, the Supreme Court had demonstrated increased resolve by deciding 8,174 cases while receiving 4,963 new cases which reflects a positive shift in judicial workflow, where case resolution outpaced new filings, reducing backlogs and ensuring timely justice.
This highlights the impact of recent reforms, including structured rule-making, automation, and streamlined procedures, contributing to a more effective and responsive judicial system, the press release stated.
To enhance the effectiveness of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), the primary focus was on framing comprehensive rules through stakeholder consultation and these rules establish clear merit-based criteria, streamline evaluations and integrate automation to ensure transparency and efficiency.
The press release further stated that a dedicated secretariat reinforced accountability, making the judicial appointment process more structured and impartial adding that the appointment process for the secretary to the Commission has been initiated, while new appointments of 36 additional judges in all five High Courts and the formation of constitutional benches at the Supreme Court of Pakistan and High Court of Sindh had been made.
In adherence to the constitutional mandate, it was stated that steps had been taken to ensure fair and equitable provincial representation in the Islamabad High Court while merit-based elevations in the Supreme Court had also been reinforced, with the five senior-most judges from each High Court being considered for elevation, ensuring transparency in the judicial system.
In reinforcing judicial accountability, the Supreme Judicial Council has established a separate secretariat to enhance its operational capacity, while the appointment process for a regular/permanent Secretary SJC has been initiated, and regular meetings have been institutionalized for better oversight and faster case disposal.
It was stated that the amendments to the Supreme Judicial Council Code of Conduct and Procedure of Enquiry 2005 were being considered while the Council in its two meetings examined 46 complaints under Article 209 of the Constitution received against constitutional officeholders, out of which 40 had been disposed of, whereas comments in 5 complaints were sought, and one was sent for information.
Similarly, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan has introduced major reforms to strengthen judicial efficiency and legal representation by replacing retired judges, ensuring broader stakeholder participation.