NJPMC meets today as lawyers call for urgent reforms to ‘safeguard judicial independence’
ISLAMABAD:
As all the chief justices will meet on Thursday (today), legal experts say the biggest challenge for the higher judiciary is to curb the growing influence of the executive over it.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi regularly holds meetings of the National Judicial Policy Development Committee (NJPMC), a body comprising all chief justices of superior courts. The committee reviews the performance of the courts as well as the implementation of various reforms.
However, since the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the executive plays a crucial role in key decision-making within the judiciary.
The majority of appointments and transfers of judges in different high courts would be made according to the will of the government. Despite strong opposition, the CJP could not stop the transfer of a judge from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to different high courts.
Likewise, no effort has been made to reduce the influence of the executive in the internal decision-making of the judiciary.
It is also noted that judicial orders from superior courts are not fully respected by the current regime.
In May last year, the Supreme Court ruled that civilians tried by military courts should have the right to appeal to higher courts. Despite more than a year, neither the executive has challenged the order nor taken steps for its implementation.
Interestingly, there is complete silence within the judiciary on the non-implementation of this order.
Last month, the Supreme Court ordered the IHC to rule on petitions filed by lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha seeking suspension of their sentences within two weeks. Despite a month having passed, the IHC has not complied with the order. The case was also adjourned indefinitely.
At its last meeting in April, the NJPMC announced that it would hold a national conference on the “Action Plan for Prison Reform” in June to promote stakeholder engagement and policy dialogue in an inclusive reform process.
We learn that the conference will now be held next month.
The higher judiciary is planning to hold a national conference on prison reform at a time when former Prime Minister Imran Khan, through his lawyer, claimed that he and his wife were kept in “solitary and tortuous isolation” for almost 24 hours, without access to books, television, family or lawyers.
Barrister Taimur Malik, counsel for several incarcerated political prisoners including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Ejaz Chaudhry and Dr Yasmin Rashid, said that while it is positive that an action plan for prison reforms is being considered, such a proposal would be inadequate if it did not timely address the bail, suspension and appeal requests of inmates.
He added that Pakistan’s prisons are overcrowded and most of the problems the reform plan seeks to address stem from this situation.
Malik said there was a need to reduce the prison population, adding that many prisoners under trial or those eligible for bail for bailable offenses could be released while awaiting trial.
Similarly, prisoners eligible for a suspended sentence for reasons such as their age or health could also be released to ease pressure on the prison system.
He cited the example of Ejaz Chaudhry, who was diagnosed with stage three kidney disease and whose health condition is not compatible with detention conditions, but whose suspension applications and appeals have not been scheduled for hearing.
He also pointed out that Shah Mahmood Qureshi has been acquitted in all cases in the last three years, but he remains imprisoned due to a few pending bail cases.
Last year, the Supreme Court, headed by CJP Afridi, ordered the trial courts to conclude proceedings in the May 9 cases within four months. Hundreds of PTI activists have since been sentenced following the order. However, their requests for suspension of sentence are still pending before the high courts and they remain behind bars. Even political activists are still in detention awaiting help.
Former Additional Advocate General Punjab Chaudhry Faisal Hussain said that at present the problem lies not only in judicial reforms but also in the perception that the judiciary is at its lowest ebb and has failed to check executive excesses.
He also said that despite two constitutional amendments, the use of courts has not been reduced. Except Sindh High Court (SHC), no constitutional bench has been created in other high courts, he added.
Another lawyer believes that civil liberties are not on the agenda of the current justice system.
Commenting on the upcoming NJPMC meeting, Barrister Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmad Khokhar said that the committee, as the supreme governing body of Pakistan’s judiciary, bears a deep responsibility in strengthening and improving the administration of justice across the country. He noted that while some recent initiatives undertaken by the judiciary deserve appreciation, the challenges facing Pakistan’s judiciary require deeper, more coherent and comprehensive reforms at all levels of the judiciary.
He observed that despite a series of reform efforts over the decades, public satisfaction with the justice system remains below the desired standard. Persistent delays in judgments, increasing number of pending cases, repeated adjournments, inconsistent case management practices, escalating costs of justice, outdated procedural frameworks and difficulties faced by ordinary litigants continue to erode public confidence in judicial institutions.
According to Khokhar, the NJPMC must move beyond routine monitoring and incremental adjustments and instead embrace bold, results-oriented solutions, including conclusive hearings at all levels aimed at addressing the root causes of systemic inefficiency. As a first step, he proposed a comprehensive and independent forensic audit of all levels of the justice system, including the Supreme Court, the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), high courts, special courts, tribunals and the district judiciary.
