Referee Yahya Afridi. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has decided more cases than it received over the past three months, reflecting improved case management and a slight reduction in the backlog, according to an official statement issued after the 10th Progress Meeting on Judicial Reforms, chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.
During the period, 3,600 new cases were brought, while 5,383 were settled, reducing the number of pending cases to 34,083. The meeting reviewed the monthly performance, efforts to modernize the judicial processes and measures to increase efficiency.
Read: CJP reviews progress on judicial reform agenda
Appreciating the improved disposal rate, CJP Afridi directed further steps to strengthen case management. The meeting also decided that all pending death penalty appeals would be heard within the next 30 days, and cases filed up to 2018 would be prioritized to relieve older trials.
However, lawyers noted that the pace of proceedings in both the Supreme Court and the Federal Constitutional Court remained largely unaffected by the 27th Amendment. Before the establishment of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court had 56,608 pending cases, of which 22,910 were transferred, leaving 33,698 for the Supreme Court. Despite the redistricting, over 56,000 cases are pending across both courts.
Read more: Lawyers question the effect of 27. change
Legal experts acknowledged some improvement in the handling of criminal cases over the past two years, but expressed concern about the effectiveness of the Constitutional Court in reducing the overall backlog.
Former Additional Attorney General Tariq Mahmood Khokhar criticized the court, saying that despite having seven judges, it had failed to significantly ease the backlog, noting that significant public funds were being spent without appreciable relief for litigants. Lawyer Hafiz Ehsan Ahmed also called for increasing the number of judges to improve judicial efficiency.
