Two-day conference on court registrars concludes

PESHAWAR: The first two-day Registrars’ Conference, organised by Peshawar High Court with the support of the United Nations Development Programme, concluded in Islamabad on Saturday.

The conference was attended by registrars and delegates from high courts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan including as well as from Azad and Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The participants discussed governance issues related to judicial administration and shared their experiences, best practices, success stories, and learned lessons for developing common guidelines and adoption of analytical activities for mutual learning and replication. The recommendations and viewpoints of the registrars of all the high courts will be documented and shared through a formal report afterwards.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief guest, PHC Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, said that that a judiciary, being an important pillar of the state, is constantly under scrutiny of society and facing several challenges. He emphasised that successful judicial system is only possible through judicial officers working with dedication and making their contribution to the fullest. He also informed the conference that PHC has conceptualised a strategy for reforms and development in the justice sector with the goals of improving the quality of court services.

Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth appreciated the organisers and participants for sharing their valuable experiences and said that such conferences should continue in the future for sharing experiences, promoting coordination between the high courts and developing common approaches to deal with the huge backlog of cases the country was facing.

He hoped that such conferences could become a stepping stone towards realisation of an effective judicial system in the country. Speaking on the occasion, Peshawar High Court Registrar Khwaja Wajih Uddin said that a number of initiatives have been taken and reforms done under the leadership of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth.

Khwaja Wajih Uddin added that rigorous application of modern office management procedures has been adopted while Child Protection Courts have been set up in Peshawar, Mardan and Abbottabad. Also, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Courts have been set up.

The PHC registrar informed that the year 2018-19 was declared as Performance Year during which the disposal of cases by District Judiciary excluding NMDs was 458,546 while 2078 cases were disposed of in newly merged districts.