CJP says it was shocking incident, hopes values attached to legal and medical professions will be upheld
\nour correspondent
\nISLAMABAD
\nChief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Saturday expressed dismay over the tragic incident at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology wherein three people lost their lives due to an attack on the hospital by the lawyers and called for \u201cintrospection and self-accountability\u201d in the wake of the tragedy.
\n\u201cThree patients including an elderly woman died after doctors failed to provide them timely treatment and remained engaged in averting the assault,\u201d the Punjab health minister said after the incident on Wednesday. After hours of continued violence, police had arrested dozens of lawyers and unblocked the road. Speaking at a national conference on expeditious justice in Islamabad, the top judge said the incident was \u201ctragic, unbelievable and shocking\u201d, but it provided an opportunity to the legal community for \u201cintrospection and self-accountability\u201d.
\n\u201cOur hearts and our minds reach out to the victims and their families,\u201d said Justice Khosa. \u201cWe hope and pray all concerned would like to uphold the values attached to the legal profession as well as the medical profession,\u201d he said.
\nJustice Khosa called upon lawyers to make \u201cevery effort to keep the nobility of such professions intact\u201d. He expressed hope that \u201cbetter sense will prevail\u201d, not just in this particular incident and its aftermath, but in the future as well. The chief justice then said he would refrain from saying more on the subject as the matter is sub judice before the Lahore High Court.
\nJudicial Reforms
\nSpeaking about reforms in the judicial system of the country, the chief justice said the apex court was making all-out efforts to reform the judicial system as \u201cwe will not go down without a fight\u201d.
\nHe said the biggest rebuke faced by the judiciary was what seemed like \u201cthe death of trial courts\u201d in Pakistan. \u201cThere was no hope left. People were thinking of conceiving a different system altogether.\u201d But, the judiciary remained \u201cdetermined to do something to fix this\u201d, he said. He said that while the possibility of law reforms was there \u2014 with 15-20 commissions having been formed in the past on changing the law, the procedure and the court structure \u2014 all the recommendations were buried in books. \u201cWe said we won\u2019t do it. We will look for ways from within the existing systems, laws, and procedures.
\nThe chief justice said the court started its reforms process with fixing the criminal justice system and identified seven to eight factors in the process.
\nThe reason for giving preference to the criminal trials was that \u201csomeone is languishing in jail, having lost his freedom, and someone else who has suffered a loss is awaiting justice. So we thought of how to improve such a system\u201d, he added.
\nAccording to the CJP, a \u201crollover system\u201d wherein 40-50 cases run alongside \u201cdid not seem right\u201d. He said the continuous trial method delivers results anywhere in the world.
\n\u201cThey give you a date \u2014 even if it is a year-and-a-half later \u2014 but when it begins it is seen through in the few days and the judge will have no other case. When one case finishes, another begins,\u201d he explained, adding that people would have to wait to a certain point in such a system and they would get the result in no time once the case commenced.
\nAnother flaw in the justice system is in the treatment of the cases wherein the state was the complainant. \u201cThe state is the complainant so the responsibility of presenting the witnesses and evidence lies with the state. For some time now, this responsibility was delegated to the aggrieved party, who was told to bring forth witnesses,\u201d he observed.
\nJustice Khosa said the complainant then went from pillar to post in search of witnesses but most of the time, none cooperated with him. \u201cOne comes and his complaint is recorded, then the case is adjourned for a month-and-a-half.\u201d
\nHe said the state must take ownership of cases and now [post-reforms] they \u201care the bring the witnesses\u201d.
\nThe chief justice said that in implementing the aforementioned changes, a \u201cworld of a difference\u201d was seen.
\nHe said other modalities, such as delays in challans being submitted, prisons not having the funds to transport prisoners and delays in writing out a judgment, were also attended.
\nJustice Khosa also spoke of proper scheduling having paved the way for \u201cno more excuses\u201d by senior judges to session judges.
\nHe said the senior judges would previously say they were needed in the higher courts and session court cases would be adjourned as a result. \u201cNow the lawyers are also genuinely focused on only certain cases on set dates,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CJP says it was shocking incident, hopes values attached to legal and medical professions will be upheld our correspondent ISLAMABAD Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Saturday expressed dismay over the tragic incident at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology wherein three people lost their lives due to an attack on the hospital by the lawyers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-97478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n