In
Search of Justice
By Col. Riaz Jafri
(Retd)
Westridge, Rawalpindi
Justice delayed is justice denied. But more harm
is done when either the judge is corrupt or the
lawyer incompetent or both Therefore, all three
aspects – the delay, the corrupt judge and
the incompetent lawyer- need to be looked into
to improve the state of affairs. Since there is
a huge backlog of pending cases in the courts,
some as old as that of before the creation of
Pakistan, and the pile up is mounting with each
passing day, some drastic steps need to be taken
to combat effectively such a dire situation.
Revolutionise the Judicial System: The
opposing litigants in each and every case always
know exactly who is right and who is wrong. The
Govt. should, therefore, introduce the following
Revolutionary System of Judgement:
1. After extensive publicity using all media and
measures, announce nation wide and give them three
months to decide among themselves all their pending
cases/disputes mutually, to be Settled Out of
the Court, and withdraw their cases. Otherwise,
all those cases which are not mutually decided,
would be tried by the courts in the most expeditious
manner and the loser will be awarded the most
severe punishment, including confiscation of all
his/her movable and immovable assets and properties
in consonance with the severity of the case.
2. Within the allowed period of three months,
the feuding litigants can take their cases to
the village/mohalla elders to act as arbitrators,
who are normally well aware of the merits of a
case. This could lead to the effective re-introduction
of village/mohalla Panchayat System once again
which would take tremendous load off the courts.
3. For registration of any fresh case with the
judiciary it will be assumed that the litigants
have failed to arrive at a mutual consent either
by themselves or through the village/mohalla Panchayat,
and therefore the loser understands that he will
be subjected to the most severe punishment, including
forfeiture of his/her properties.
With the above, a drastic reduction in the number
of cases – old and new - is expected
Judges:
1. Judges salaries and remunerations are increased
to the extent of making them temptation free.
If someone still indulges in corruption even after
that, he/she must be dealt with exemplarily.
2. To improve their professional capabilities,
a judge whose three decisions are reversed in
a quarter by the higher court should be censured,
which should be reflected in his/her ACR.
Lawyers: To ensure professional
ethics and morality, a lawyer’s licence
to practice be cancelled, after three warning(s),
if he/she:
1. Accepts the brief of a case knowing fully well
it to be false.
2. Accepts the brief of an accused even after
having full knowledge of him/her having committed
the offence.
3. Continues to hold the brief for his client
or defend him/her even after he comes to know
of the true facts at any stage during the proceedings
that his client has either a false case or has
had committed the unlawful offence.
Efficiency: Apart from above,
the following should also be ensured:
1. Courts to work full time. Avoid late arrival
of judges and lawyers, numerous tea breaks, guests
in chamber, postponements on flimsy grounds by
corrupt Court Readers, false Medical Certificates
(the MO/Dr. issuing such false certificates be
prosecuted and debarred from medical practice)
2. Lawyers’ strikes: They should never boycott
courts. It causes immense inconvenience and harm
to their clients. They can always work and protest
at the same time by wearing a ‘white’
band (with suitable inscription too, if required)
on the left arm of their black jacket to make
it more visible and pronounced.
Let’s hope and pray that justice will neither
be denied nor delayed.
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