Rawalpindi: (Parliament Times) A delegation of Lahore High Court led by the Chief Justice Lahore High Court Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah comprising of Judges from all tiers of judicial hierarchy from the Justices of High Court to a civil judge spent an eventful day in London today.
The delegation is here to build linkages with the United Kingdom Judiciary in collaboration with the British High Commission aiming to enhance the efficacy of the justice delivery system in Punjab province of Pakistan. Besides, the delegation intends to identify lessons learnt/challenges of implementing judicial reform processes in the United Kingdom within the areas of Case Management, Alternate Dispute Resolution, District Courts and Judicial Training which in turn will contribute towards the ongoing reformatory processes at the Lahore High Court.
Earlier in the morning the delegation visited the Blackfriars Crown Courts where His Honour Judge Hillen and His Honour Judge Shetty briefed the delegation about the Digital Case System (DCS) deployed at the Crown Courts recently. The briefing included a practical demonstration by the Crown Courts Judges of the working of the DCS while members of the delegation also observed live proceedings to comprehend the functionality of the DCS. A deep insight into the functionality of the DCS was also provided to the members of the delegation by an administrative team of the Crown Courts.
The delegation also went to the Royal Courts of Justice where they were greeted by Lord Justice Gross. After a lunch at the Gray’s Inn with Lord Justice Gross and the Benchers, a meeting of the delegation with Lord Justice Gross took place which was emphatically focused on fundamentals of judicial reforms. The challenges of judicial reforms and that of implementing Case Management procedures at the UK Courts remained the major area of interest during the meeting and it was established that by building cooperation amongst the two judiciaries the efficiency if justice delivery system at the Punjab province could be materially enhanced. The two judicial dignitaries agreed that inter judicial bonding will have far reaching effects in instilling reforms in the administration of justice in both the countries.
Later in the day, part of the delegation went over to the office of Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) where they were briefed about the functionality and working of the CPS and the areas where reforms in CPS had brought about positive changes. Witness support programs, alternative disposals and difficulties of cases involving domestic violence were some of the areas deliberated upon by the participants. Also, Sharon Smith, Digital Manager, CPS, shared with the delegates the highlights of the Case Management System operational at the CPS and also briefed them about its connectivity with DCS. Besides the Chief Justice, members of the Lahore High Court delegation are Mr. Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh, Mr. Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan, Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi, Mr. Sohail Nasir, District and Session Judge Rawalpibndi, Mr. Muhammad Akmal Khan, Director General, Directorate of District Judiciary, Mrs. Aysha Khalid, Additional District and Session Judge/Senior Instructor Punjab Judicial Academy, Mr. Mohsin Mumtaz, Civil Judge/Research Officer, Lahore High Court and Mr. Jamal Ahmad Additional Registrar (IT ) Lahore High Court.
