No Judge With Questionable Reputation Can Stay In Field: LHC CJ

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th August, 2016) : Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah has said that no judge with a questionable reputation, low performance and below par behaviour could stay in field. Addressing the first of its kind round-table meeting of all district and sessions judges (DSJs) in Punjab here, he said that it was responsibility of the DSJs to monitor and evaluate the performance and integrity of the judicial officers.

The chief justice advised the DSJs that they should be honest, candid, bold and fearless while recording Performance Evaluation Reports of their subordinates. He apprised the participants that the round-table meeting was aimed at discussing policy issues relating to district judiciary and establishing better communication within the ranks of judiciary of Punjab.

He said that such round-table meetings should be conducted on regular basis to help make such policies which could help common man get rid of his sufferings in pursuit of justice. Justice Syed Muhammad Kazim Raza Shamsi and Justice Mehmood Maqbool Bajwa also attended the meeting.

While explaining his reformatory vision, the chief justice said that the justice delivery system could bear fruits for the litigant public only if modern techniques of case management and court automation were put in practice.

The CJ briefed the DSJs that as the first phase of implementation of case management system, a case auditing project was being initiated in the district judiciary, whereby all cases pending with the district judiciary would be verified and their particulars would be inserted in a prescribed form which would eventually be entered into a software to be launched in the near future.

He said that the case auditing project would help devise district-wise strategic policy interventions to eliminate the menace of high pendency of cases.

While sharing his reformatory vision further, the chief justice emphasised that the district courts, being the front line courts, had a unique place in the judicial system of the Punjab province.

He said the confidence of litigants could only be restored in the judicial system by bringing in policies, based on the notions of transparency, openness, merit and accountability in the district judiciary, as a common man gauged the judicial system from performance of the district judiciary.

He said that the DSJs were the agents of change and they could revolutionise the judicial system by working hard with a positive attitude. The CJ further urged the DSJs to improve working relationships with the judges of the district judiciary for understanding the problems of district judiciary and then suggesting suitable solutions for the same.

The chief justice vowed that the infrastructural development of the district judiciary was his top most priority as scarcity of proper court rooms and residences was hampering performance of the judicial officers.

He also highlighted the problems being faced by the female judicial officers. The chief justice instructed the DSJs to come up with proposals and solutions to solve such infrastructural problems.

In the earlier segment of the meeting, a delegation of European Union's Punjab Access to Justice Project, led by John Lipton, also participated wherein Osama Siddique of the Lahore University of Management Sciences explained the major features of the proposed case management system for the district judiciary.