For a democracy to flourish, it is imperative that a strong judiciary keeps a check on the arbitrary actions of the government and protects the fundamental rights of the citizens. After the 2009 judiciary movement things improved, however there is still need for some improvement. The new Chief Justice, Nasir-ul-Mulk is a competent judge and has an impeccable reputation. There is not much trust left in the judiciary also, it has shown clear signs of corruption on all levels therefore there need to be judicial reforms, which can resolve cases quickly and transparently.
Building the confidence of the general public is very important and the judiciary needs to have an accountability mechanism in place as the performance of every judge needs to be evaluated and bottlenecks need to be removed. There should be a court management system coupled with case management system. Article 184(3) needs to be used efficiently. Suo-moto notices should not be taken on needless matters and a balance needs to be created for taking suo-moto notices.
Technology needs to be used effectively so that cases can be resolved quickly and people are provided justice. The power from the Chief Justice office should be delegated to the other judges. The higher judiciary should keep a check on the lower judiciary, so that things can improve on the district level. The sooner the reforms are made the quicker our judiciary would perform.
WAQAR UMAR MEMON,
Karachi, July 17.