January
30; Access to justice remains an unaffordable luxury for a majority of people
in Pakistan. The country's abysmal state of Rule of Law creates an urgent need
to bring institutional reforms in three key areas of its justice system: 1)
Police; 2) Prosecution; and 3) Legal Aid. Well-trained Police; fair and effective
Prosecution and access to Free Legal Aid services are critical to maintenance
of law and order.
PILDAT is leading a national initiative to shape and facilitate an earnest agenda
for bringing reforms in Pakistan's Rule of Law sector through various advocacy,
documentation and legislative activities. As part of this initiative, PILDAT
has now released a new Policy Brief Rule of Law Reform Series to inform and
influence necessary policy debate and formulation at Federal and Provincial
levels. The new series comprises three research-based technical policy documents
addressing on the core subjects of Police, Prosecution and Free Legal Aid in
Pakistan.
The policy briefs have been authored by members of a Committee of Technical
Experts constituted by PILDAT for its Rule of Law Reforms Project. Members include
Dr. Muhammad Shoaib Suddle, Former Inspector General of Police; Mr. Shahid Hamid,
Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan; Mr. Azam Nazeer Tarar, Member, Pakistan
Bar Council; Mr. Muhammad Ali Nekokara, Former Senior Superintendent of Police;
Dr. Suhail Shahzad, Dean, Faculty of Law and Administrative Sciences, Hazara
University; and Ms. Ayesha Hamid, Senior Advocate, Lahore High Court.
The policy brief on Police provides various noteworthy recommendations, such
as enhanced capacity building of police through specialised training schools;
increase in budget and police strength annually by at least 10%; improvements
in infrastructure; and security of tenure.
Whereas, the brief on Prosecution system highlights the pressing needs to transform
and strengthen police-prosecution liaison; institutionalisation of online FIR
system; reporting of poor investigation by District Public Prosecutors to Regional
Police Officer; improvement in recruitment criteria of Prosecutors with a one-year
probationary period; and binding guidelines for prosecutors.
Similarly, the policy brief on Free Legal Aid proposes amendments in Free Legal
Aid Rules 1999; leading public awareness campaigns; and allocating adequate
funds to relevant departments for strengthening s committees established for
streamlining free legal aid. Additionally, all three briefs also include various
significant proposed reforms suggested by key stakeholders during several consultative
sessions that PILDAT has held since September 2015 with leading members of judiciary
and legal community, relevant Government departments, Parliament, Punjab and
Sindh provincial assemblies, as well as the national media.
PILDAT�s "Reforms in Rule of Law in Pakistan" Project is supported by Development
Alternatives Inc. (DAI) under the Enhanced Democratic Accountability and Civic
Engagement (EDACE) project.
Follow the Twitter debate on @RoLPakistan
and use #RuleOfLawPakistan. For more information, please visit www.pildat.org
and www.facebook.com/RuleOfLaw.pk.
The desired publications ROL - Policy Briefs are already uploaded on website
and following are their direct links to download:
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