hief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
has said that freedom of judiciary is necessary for rule of law in the
country and judiciary protects the constitution of the country and
rights of masses, adding that it is responsibility of judiciary to
provide justice to people.
Addressing the first, Judicial Academies Conference CJ said that
judicial academies are a platform for exchange of ideas by legal
experts in order to cope with demands of efficient judicial system,
generated by rising expectations of the public from the judiciary,
adding that fair dispensation of justice is the prime responsibility of
Judiciary and the attainment of this objective is dependent upon strict
adherence to law and Constitutional norms by the judges.
He said that Judiciary plays a pivotal role in securing societal
tranquility by providing a structured institutionalized forum for the
determination of discord and dispute and the redressed of civil and
criminal wrongs and grievances.
He said that the judicial institution in any democratic State is the
guardian of the Constitution and protector of the rights of citizens
and the judiciary’s foremost role as the third pillar of the State is
to defend and uphold the Constitution.
In the words of Charles Evans Hughes “We are under a Constitution,
but the Constitution is what the judges say it is, and the judiciary is
the safeguard of our liberty and of our property under the
Constitution”.
He said that in Pakistan, the role of judiciary is getting vital
with every passing day as the citizens are reposing more confidence in
this institution for the redressed of their grievances and it is
therefore incumbent upon the judges of superior as well as subordinate
courts to acquaint themselves with a better and wider knowledge of
human society and its foibles, in order to resolve the contemporary
societal problems.
CJ said that the Constitution of Pakistan protects judicial
independence in order to promote the Rule of Law and the judges are
expected to administer the law fairly without fear, favor, and judicial
independence calls for a special responsibility of the judges to attend
properly and conscientiously to their duties.
He said that judicial independence is not possible until and unless
the doctrine of tracheotomy of powers as envisaged by the Constitution
itself, is followed in letter and in spirit and the doctrine of
tracheotomy of powers rests upon the recognition of the fact that the
concentration of absolute power in one individual or institution will
inevitably result in exploitation and tyranny.
He said that framers of our Constitution being well aware of Lord
Acton’s dictum, ‘Power tends to corrupt; and absolute power corrupts
absolutely’, demarcated the scope of powers of all the organs of the
State namely the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.
Each of them has to perform separate and strictly delineated functions without interfering in the jurisdictional domain of the other.
He said that judicial service is one of the esteemed and sought after avenues today and the entrants of this service must be men of integrity, prudence and knowledge and presently four judicial academies are operating in Pakistan, one at the Federal capital and three in provinces; the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will also soon have its own academy.
Each of them has to perform separate and strictly delineated functions without interfering in the jurisdictional domain of the other.
He said that judicial service is one of the esteemed and sought after avenues today and the entrants of this service must be men of integrity, prudence and knowledge and presently four judicial academies are operating in Pakistan, one at the Federal capital and three in provinces; the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will also soon have its own academy.
CJ said that the academies are engaged with task of imparting
necessary training and orientation in the laws, judicial norms and
etiquettes to the judges and the Federal Judicial Academy has been
striving to impart pre-service as well as in-service judicial training
to the judges for improvement of the judicial system and quality of
judicial work.
Chief justice said that the purpose of establishment of the judicial
academies besides other aspects is also to cure the intrinsic
weaknesses of the judicial system at different hierarchies and this
summit will provide an opportunity to examine critically judicial
institutions to make sure that it meets the present needs of the
societal problems.
He said that he believes that for the process of reform to take
effect, a good cooperative understanding between judges and lawyers
about best practices is essential and there is a need for the
development of new ethos of efficiency and cooperation among the legal
fraternity in order to cure the weaknesses of the judicial set up in
Pakistan.
CJ said that in the courtroom, judges have a vital role in creating
a forum where the litigants could get redress and resolution of
disputes in accord with the legal and constitutional norms.
The District judiciary is the first forum where the litigating public interacts with the judicial system, therefore, the trial court judges are expected to listen patiently and adjudicate rationally with utmost wisdom and legal knowledge in their judgments, CJ said.
The District judiciary is the first forum where the litigating public interacts with the judicial system, therefore, the trial court judges are expected to listen patiently and adjudicate rationally with utmost wisdom and legal knowledge in their judgments, CJ said.
He said that in the judicial academies the trial court judges should
be trained specifically about their behavior with the litigants, court
management, time management, delay reduction strategies, eradication of
corrupt practices, control over administrative staff and strict
adherence to law. By assuring that those who appear before the courts
are treated with dignity and equality, the judiciary can demonstrate
that the protections and sanctions of law exist for all and sundry.
CJ said that Judicial Academies should play a lead role in
disseminating knowledge about specialized subjects and reformed
legislation and Judges must be acquainted about international
conventions and declarations, adding that in order to bring homogeneity
about the judicial training, it is desirable that the courses,
orientation programs and lectures about the general substantive and
procedural laws should be common, as far as possible, in all the
academies.
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that the syllabus of the judicial
academies should be approved after due deliberation by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Judicial Academy , so that all the judges
throughout Pakistan adhere to similar traits of integrity,
independence, accountability and fair play notwithstanding the regional
diversities.
He said that judicial education and training is necessary not only
for new entrants of the judicial service but also for the serving
judges, for effective and efficient administration of justice in the
country. Keeping in view the ensuing trends in jurisprudence, such as
cyber crimes, environmental law, alternate dispute resolution, forensic
science and criminology, local, national and international law, the
judges need to be educated in these fields during pre-service and
in-service trainings from time to time.
He said that in this world of globalization and information
technology, the judges should be computer literate and the judicial
academies should specifically focus on imparting awareness about
utilizing information technology tools, adding that almost all
developed countries of the world have their law sites that can be
accessed through internet.
He said that the judges should be encouraged to acquaint fully
themselves with the legal principles of foreign jurisdiction in order
to broaden their legal acumen and the judges, however, should be
discouraged about plagiarizing the text from the internet or books
without mentioning the sources, adding that special courses about the
concept of plagiarism and its ill effects need to be included in the
training of the judges during their stay at the judicial academies.
He said that judicial academies can play a positive role in
strengthening the administration of justice by equipping the judges
through training programs with the values of equality before the law,
fairness, and impartiality, independence of decision-making,
competence, integrity, transparency, accessibility, timeliness and
certainty.
He said that these values when endorsed and promoted by the judges
will be a reflection of an impartial judicial system and a journey
towards judicial reformation based on these values will be in fact the
journey towards the strengthening of judicial system.
In the end, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chadhury thanked the
Chief Justice and Judges of the Sindh High Court, Director General of
Sindh Judicial Academy and all other persons who had played their role
in making this Conference successful. SANA
