PHC CJ opens child court in Mohmand

PESHAWAR: The Chief Justice of the PHC, Waqar Ahmad Seth, on Saturday inaugurated a child court in Ghallanai in Mohmand district, which is the first of its kind in the merged districts and the fourth in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief justice said that children under 14 years of age constituted almost 35 percent of our population and it would be unjust, if not downright criminal, to ignore the welfare of such a large chunk of society. “The Peshawar High Court embarked upon a plan in 2019 to establish a chain of child courts throughout the province beginning with Peshawar, extending next, to the Divisional Headquarters and finally to each district of the province,” he added. He said this was a big stride forward in juvenile justice system unmatched by any other province so far. He also expressed his resolve to further consolidate the efforts in the direction and effectively alleviate the plight of the children by arranging for resolution of their disputes. The efforts to establish child courts in the province are aimed at providing justice to children as envisaged in the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act, 2010 and the Constitution of Pakistan. The PHC has posted Additional District and Sessions Judge Wali Muhammad as Presiding Officer Child Court in Mohmand. During the press conference that followed the inauguration ceremony, PHC Registrar Khwaja Wajihuddin shared the performance and the resultant progress registered by the three child courts in Peshawar, Mardan and Abbottabad in their early teething phase after their establishment in the recent past. These courts, he added, had disposed of 1140 cases related to children. He disclosed that the existing child courts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa showed remarkable disposal rate of 45 percent and corresponding average time of 99 days for conclusion of a case. He also underlined that the primary role of child courts was to ensure the protection of children from maltreatment, violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect. The registrar said that PHC was determined to pursue the objective of providing not only speedy, effective and inexpensive justice to the children but creating a congenial environment for them while going through the judicial proceedings at child courts.