Khawaja Wajih ud Din
There are almost 500 verses of the Holy Quran which provide laws and legal principles. Almost 230 verses amongst them are relevant to enforceable rights and administration of justice. The most commonly referred is Surah Nisa (4:58) “Surely Allah commands you to deliver trusts to those entitled to them, and that, when you judge between people, judge with justice. Surely, excellent is the exhortation Allah gives you. Surely Allah is all hearing, all seeing”.
Surely, we have revealed to you the book with the truth, so that you may judge between people according to what Allah has shown you. Do not be an advocate for those who breach trust (4:105).
In Surah Hood (11:113) Allah says that, “And do not lean towards wrongdoers, less the fire should touch you, and you have no supporter besides Allah, then you will not be helped.”
The commandments of Allah as ordained in the Holy book and Saying of his Holy Prophet (MPBUH) should serve as basis of the rule of law. The commandment of the God Almighty is also to do justice, follow merit and enforce rights.
It is always very painful to see people criticizing the judicial organ of the state and blaming it for everything. Some of the criticisms might be justified. Throughout, the history of Pakistan we have seen political fights being brought to the courts. It is a sad truth that political leaders instead of sorting out their differences prefer to get them sorted out by other means. As far as the courts are concerned there is a visible lack of consistency in the approach to different happenings, which has not served the concept of the rule of law at all. It’s a painful reality that the legal system is made fun of by every Tom, dick and harry in the streets.
Keeping all those hard facts in mind I always thought that in whatever capacity, we should play our part in improving the system wherever possible. The guiding principles in my heart and mind have always been the Commandments of Almighty Allah mentioned above and the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). I can recollect my experience as a Dean of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy and as director general with great satisfaction. A concerted effort was made to train all the stakeholders involved in the implementation of rule of law. So that they work efficiently, dedicatedly to promote the interest of justice.
In complete departure from the age old methodology of teaching the text of the civil procedure code and criminal procedure code to judicial officers of 10 to 15 years of service, we focused on the practical implementation of the rule of law, court and case management, situational handling, stress management, Capacity building, team building, sentencing and all the latest concepts in the world relating to administration of justice. The areas of training focused on the practical implementation of law.
All the stakeholders regularly invited for examining the loopholes in the system including reasons for the conviction/acquittal and development of SOP’s for effective administration of justice. I remember to have been a part of two case analysis regarding understanding the counter terrorism response and Pakistan’s action to counter terrorism. It seemed all the more important as the various organs of the state were better off to sit together and chalk out a common strategy, instead of blaming each other for the failure.
The criminal justice coordination committees at the district level and its role in effective administration of justice was highlighted. SOP’s were developed for the issues which could not be solved in the criminal justice coordination committees were to be sent to the provincial justice committee for ultimate solution. The capacity building of the stakeholders was specially focused.
National Seminar on Case Management and Summary Judgment Rules (Amendments in CPC) Civil management rules was held in which the draft was deliberated upon. Ultimately the government approved the draft and issued notification making it as a part of the civil procedure code. Its main focus was to avoid delay in civil litigation and suggested ways and means of doing it. The biggest challenge was faced when the government decided to move to merge erstwhile FATA and PATA into the settled districts.
A series of activities were conducted to study the methodology, scheme of things, line of action, Procedure, modus operandi and action plan. All the stakeholders including elected representatives, media men, lawyers, local elders, intellectuals, Government officials and judges were regularly invited to deliberate upon the matter. Special focus in regard was to study the customs and traditions prevalent in the area. The internationally recognized principles of knowledge, skills and attitude were always kept in mind as guiding principles. Interaction with the media was a regular feature.
Judicatory act was developed, which is still pending with the government. A vision document called, “vision 2027” Watch developed planning the activities of the Academy for the next 10 years. Establishment of a research /search cell was one of the activities that we were proud of.
The cell provided researched materials and searched case law when asked to do so. Newsletter and annual report was a regular feature. Same was the case with annual calendar and general training program. Through the planned activities a record number of trainings were conducted in the particular calendar year. Training for lawyers was introduced for the first time by the Academy enabling capacity building of a very important component of the system. For improving judgment writing the concept of creative writing was made use of. The concept of training-based promotion was introduced. Gender mainstreaming and women empowerment, commercial disputes, Juvenile justice, financial crimes, intellectual property disputes were also focused. National conferences on Alternate dispute resolution were also held.
Regular interaction with the other High court’s, lawyers and judges were made for mutual learning and thought sharing. Instead of picking and choosing the audience software was developed which would automatically choose participants who had not undergone training in a particular field. Merit was ensured in every field and human discretion was brought to minimum.
Our conclusions in the debates, activities were that the problem in Pakistan is not of dearth of legislation but actually of enforcement and execution of law. In other words enforceability of the rule of law is the area to be focused. This important area is connected with the governance in general and effective administration in particular. Another lesson learned was that one can only improve one’s credibility if one continues to perform in the best interest of the public as per the essence of rule of law and it’s equal treatment without fear or favor. I remember a question that the participants frequently asked me as to why the non-Muslim judges in the history of Pakistan have had the highest credibility. Majority of the participants thought that the legal system does not encourage, efficiency, honesty, dedication and hard work. They also thought that the legal system has a lot of discretion and in majority of cases it is not exercised to promote the interest of Justice and fair play.
The participants also complained about lack of basic facilities to the lawyers, litigants and officers involved in the implementation of the rule of law. Nonexistent Career progression and very slow promotions were other areas that were highlighted. They use to tell me in private meetings, with the request not to be quoted, that the competition for elevation is not fair. It was also the opinion of the participants that on the policy side everything changes with the change in the judicial hierarchy and hence there is no consistency in policy and guidelines. It was a unanimous conclusion that ethics and morality have to be inculcated in the judicial system. The ultimate conclusion was that the commandment of the God Almighty is to do justice, follow merit and enforce rights.
(To be concluded)
