Delays in clearing court cases are a serious challenge in Pakistan. There were 1.5 million pending cases and 2.6 million new cases were filed in our courts in the year 2010. In 2021, it increased to 2.2 million pending cases and 38.5 million new cases.
Considering that there are only about 5000 judges in Pakistan; can this enormous case load be cleared in a timely manner? What are the reasons for the delay? How can legal tech help reduce the delay by making the justice system more efficient?
None other than an honourable judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, provides an answer. Justice Shah points out that the “traditional closed architecture of our courts” cannot address the issue of delay. He adds that the time has come to bring technology to run our ‘court house’ – a generic term used for courts in Pakistan. “Delay, delay, delay is the biggest challenge,” he says.
Citing the reasons for the delay, Justice Shah underlines the poor case management system; non-use of technology to monitor the progress of cases; unregulated adjournments and strikes; lack of training of judges and communication between the three tiers of the judiciary. To regulate delays, he refers to an automation system that was employed in Punjab. For example, an SMS service was introduced to inform lawyers as to the fixation of cases; a mobile app was launched to enable lawyers and litigants to monitor the progress and status of their cases; a database was created to...
Read Full Story: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/975986-transforming-the-justice-system
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.
