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CJ asks govt to implement law reforms

MEHMUD AHMED

ISLAMABAD: The government has been directed by Chief Justice Irshad Hassan Khan to immediately implement a number of urgent reforms recommended by various Law Commissions and capsulated by him in a recent judgement.

Briefing the leaders of the Bar associations and councils in a close session here on Saturday, the Chief Justice was said to have sent his instructions to the government immediately after the provincial Chief Justices had approved the measures for clearance of backlog and speeding up of the process of justice earlier last week.

In his letter to the government, the Chief Justice has enclosed a synopsis of the main recommendations of some six Law Commissions and asked it to urgently increase the number of judges and judicial officers, consider the possibility of enhancing the retirement age of judges, provide necessary funds for construction of proper court rooms, provision of ministerial staff, typewriters, stationary and above all computers.

He also laid stress on the pre and in-service training judicial officers, creation of libraries and provision of books and other material relating to the judicial systems.

To attract capable, competent and qualified persons to the judicial services, the Chief Justice has recommended that the present terms and conditions of service should be improved with a special emphasis on provision of accommodation and transport facility.

He has also expressed his dissatisfaction with the present system of process serving and asked the government to assign it to a separate agency placed under the control of high courts or the district courts. The services of such an agency should be used for process serving in civil and criminal cases.

The Chief Justice has also discussed the current problem of congestion in jails and recommended that the law relating to bail (i.e. Section 497 of the Criminal Procedure Code) should be amended, creating three categories.

The first it should afford bail to a crime punishable for three years and the accused had been detained for a period exceeding six months but the trial has not yet concluded.

Second when offence is punishable for a more than three years but excludes death penalty and the accused has stood trial for more than a year and third when offence is punishable with death and the accused has been in detention for more than two years but trial has not concluded.

The CJ has also urged the government to seriously consider suitable increase in the manpower of the police and take adequate measures to make them effective in the maintenance of rule of law.