Human rights training project launched for judges, prosecutors in Sindh

Fifteen judicial magistrates along with 10 prosecutors participated in a tree-day interactive training workshop on ‘Human Rights Safeguards in the Administration of Justice in Sindh’.

The Sindh Judicial Academy (SJA), in collaboration with the EU-funded Huqooq-e-Pakistan (HeP) project, organised the training. The training aimed at a province-wide intervention by building the capacity of 300 trial court judges and 360 public prosecutors from all districts of Sindh through a total of 22 pieces of training that will run at the SJA through the year.

Senior Sindh High Court lawyers, prominent experts in criminal justice and experts from the HeP and the SJA will impart training whose objective is to enhance the capacity of judges and prosecutors in applying human rights standards to the administration of justice and incorporating the same in judgment- writing.

The training modules and manual have been developed jointly by experts from the HeP and the SJA under the supervision of HeP Executive Director Ali Dayan Hasan. Judicial magistrates and public prosecutors from Sindh will be trained in a range of areas, including the application of human rights within Pakistan’s criminal justice system and the role of trial courts in upholding human rights standards, witness protection and incorporating human rights principles in judgment-writing.

Eminent experts, including Supreme Court advocate Faisal Siddiqui and President Sindh High Court Bar Association Salahuddin Ahmed, delivered guest lectures on the importance of human rights and the role of civil judges in its application.

Director General Sindh Judicial Academy Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar of the Sindh High Court commended the efforts made by the Huqooq-e-Pakistan project team to develop the training materials alongside the SJA.

In his remarks, Ali Dayan Hasan gave an overview of the project and its training objectives. He said the training programme was designed in consultation with provincial human rights stakeholders from the judiciary to ensure that the training reflected Sindh’s realities and perspectives. “We are especially grateful to Justice Mazhar and the leadership of the SJA. They have been exemplary and inspiring partners. Justice Mazhar’s commitment to human rights is evident not just in his jurisprudence but in SJA’s determination in ensuring that all judges at all levels factor human rights in their dispensation of justice.”