Senate body pondering over judicial reforms

ISLAMABAD: A committee of the Senate in its meeting Tuesday decided to finalise its recommendations on providing speedy and inexpensive justice to people within six or seven weeks, focusing on implementation and compliance with the law without any delay in order to ensure speedy justice to masses.
The committee discussed steps that are needed to be taken to make the judicial system effective, cheap and speedy. Under the chairmanship of Chairman Senate, Mian Raza Rabbani, the panel, after considering the received proposals, also finalised a list of experts, who will formulate its recommendations on the matter.
The committee, constituted on a motion moved by Leader of the House Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq on ‘steps to provide speedy and inexpensive justice in the country’, discussed the recommendations forwarded by some 24 organisations and resources persons.
Majority of the lawmakers pointed out that the law very much existed but the real challenge was its implementation in letter and spirit. They proposed that they should also recommend constitution of a monitoring committee to keep a check whether or not the law was implemented.
In his views, Raja Zafar said that implementation of the law was main reason, justice was delayed and in most of the cases, it was denied, adding there should be a monitoring committee similar to ‘implementation commission on the 18th amendment’.
“This kind of a monitoring committee will help in implementing the law as it will ask the government whether the law is implemented or not. The problem which we’re facing is lack of implementation of the existing laws,” he pointed out.
Rabbani agreed with Raja Zafar and said that a special committee would be formed to look into the matter, meant for keeping a check the authorities applying the law or it was an exercise in futility.
Several legislators called for reforming the existing police system, terming it as the main hurdle in providing speedy justice to the masses. On this, the chair said the four former inspectors-general of police would be called to give their expert opinions on reining in the incompetent, corrupt police, having personal loyalty to protect and serve the incumbent political elite instead of serving poor masses.
Former IGs, who will brief the committee about bringing major reform in the outdated corrupt police system, included Afzal Shigri, Dr Shoaib Suddle, Zulfiqar Cheema and Abbas Shah, the former police officers with unblemished past, who called it day after completing their service for about 3 decades without changing the exiting police system.
The committee will also invite all the 24 institutions, resource persons during the hearing to brief the members on how to how to strengthen the law which can help in ensuring the speedy and inexpensive justice to masses.
They resource persons, who include senior lawyers, retired judges, and experts belonging to different background, have also submitted their recommendations to the committee which were circulated among the members.
The chair also directed the members to give their recommendations, if there was any, in light of the suggestions made by the experts, by next Monday. Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah of PML-Functional said that lack of safety for sources and judges was also one of the many reasons for slow and ineffective judicial system.
PPP’s Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the first step must be to open the doors for justice. The enforced disappearance and extra-judicial killings, he added, had often been blamed on state security agencies, for which legislation was only way out to put an end to it.
He stressed for an anti-torture law in accordance with UN convention against torture signed and ratified by Pakistan. He also stressed the need to for constitutional amendment to clip the powers of judges of the superior courts besides looking into the suo moto powers. The committee will now meet again on August 19.