Following his commitment to improve service delivery and access to justice, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi Thursday initiated a diagnostic study for the design and execution of short and medium-term strategic judicial interventions.
A statement issued by the Supreme Court's spokesperson office on Thursday noted that a dedicated team of professionals from various fields, with a passion for working pro bono, has undertaken the task of conducting a functional assessment of the availability of resources, the effectiveness of existing court processes and systems, the challenges they face and the opportunities.
"This exercise will be followed by finalisation of a workable reform plan with timelines and impact assessment mechanism," the statement said.
It added that the proposed reform interventions will focus on helping reduce case backlog, improving accessibility and transparency by simplifying processes, technological integration, and adopting a public-centric approach by exploiting available resources and the existing legal framework.
"Prioritisation of cases involving marginalised segments of the society and high-impact cases would be the key feature of the reform interventions."
For this purpose, stakeholders' engagement throughout the design and implementation process is being taken care of.
"Initially, professionals from diverse backgrounds, court staff and other key players of the justice sector, including Bar, are being involved for meaningful input."
A draft of the strategic plan will be put forward for public debate and feedback before it is finalised for implementation.