The Dilemma of Expeditious and Affordable Justice

By: Siraj Ahmed Mirwani

The Constitution of Pakistan 1973 through its Article 37(d) enunciates that it’s the state’s responsibility to ensure inexpensive and expeditious justice; to public. It has been noticed with a serious concern that majority of the courts are facing a mammoth challenge of pendency of cases at their disposal. High numbers of civil and criminal cases are lying pending in Supreme Court, Higher Courts, Tribunals, National Accountability Courts, and Banking Courts and in some District Courts of highly congested areas.

The state has failed to serve inexpensive and expeditious justice to the public, which is their very fundamental right of the public and the constitutional obligation of the state. Majority of the delayed cases are of civil nature. As far as the issue of inexpensive justice is concerned; there is no effective standard operating procedure which can determine the fee charged by legal counselors for the proceedings of criminal & civil cases. 

Seeking instant justice at an affordable cost has always been a nightmare in the state especially for those who are deprived of it or cannot afford it. Seven glorious decades passed since the independence but no creditable efforts made to bring reforms that can ease the plaintiffs and defendants both.  

Talking about criminal cases, the legal requirements are not properly maintained at the time of lodging of FIR followed by poor investigation carried out by untrained and unprofessional Police officials. Hence, due to some legal flaws at early stages of the cases, even the most competent counsels fail to provide justice to their clients. Moreover the onus of delayed process is blamed to Judiciary, which is not true at all and despite the fact that the proper evidence in not provided neither by the prosecution nor by the defendant party.

In the same regards, inauguration of mobile courts by Honorable Chief Justice High Court KPK; is a remarkable step in the judicial system which will surely eradicate the delayed justice and will improve the process of expeditious justice. Such initiatives may be encouraged and implemented all over the country which not only reduce the huge pendency of cases but also boost the speedy trials and revive the confidence of general public in Judicial System of the state.   

 The writer is a first year law student.

Published in The Balochistan Point on August 27, 2017