Parliament being legislative body must be respected: CJP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi on Tuesday refrained from commenting on the 26th Constitutional Amendment, saying that parliament is the legislative body and must be respected until court decisions are made.

The CJP shared with the Supreme Court beat reporters complete insight regarding his recent visit to China and Turkey outlining his commitment for bringing judicial reforms while adopting the technology being utilised by the visiting countries. He stressed that the plan to adopt the technology for enhancing the judicial system should be citizen-centric.

Justice Yahya, while replying to a question refused to comment on the 26th Constitutional Amendment at this stage, said that parliament is the legislative body, making laws and amendments which must be respected until the court decisions are made. He, however, said that after court decisions, he would give his opinion on the amendment.

On judicial transfers, the CJP expressed support but refrained from giving a final opinion due to an ongoing court case. He added that judges brought in via transfer should be placed at the bottom of the seniority list.

He disclosed that a meeting of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee has been convened to discuss the judicial reform agenda. He said technology would be used to resolve pending cases and appeals in death penalty and life imprisonment cases will be prioritised.

The CJP said that the committee meeting would be held on May 26 and 27, where all high court chief justices would participate.

He mentioned that during his recent visit to China, he learnt that their Supreme Court has 367 judges and no pending cases. The CJP said that Chinese judges were surprised by the number of pending cases in Pakistan and asked how they would be resolved. He told them the purpose of the visit was precisely to find solutions.

He said technology will be used to resolve cases but noted that without complete data, AI cannot be implemented. “Technology is not like a pill you take and everything is solved,” the CJP added.

He further said that during his visit he also met the chief justice of Iran and judges from the Indian judiciary, stating significant discussions took place. Though he did not disclose details but said he would do so in the next sitting with the SC beat reporters.

The chief justice said the goal was to introduce China’s judicial technology in Pakistan. He noted that the five high courts currently have better tech infrastructure than the Supreme Court. He mentioned that the cost of paper used by the Supreme Court last year equals the money recovered from selling old paper in just three months—hence, they are now going paperless.

He said three benches have been set up in the Supreme Court to hear criminal cases, with two benches working continuously. He aims to expedite death penalty cases and noted that there are currently around 1,200 pending life imprisonment cases. One bench will exclusively hear death penalty cases. Justice Yahya added that an Anti-Corruption Cell and Hotline have been created, and around 14,000 complaints have been received. He urged journalists to convey accurate information to the public. “People are under stress and need hope—tell them God will make things better”, the CJP said.

Referring to the issue of enforced disappearances, the chief justice declared it as agenda number one in the upcoming Judicial Policy discussions and expressed the resolve that the issue cannot be delayed any further.