Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa’s idea worked and the judiciary has started to restore long lost public confidence. Model courts are playing a major role in contemporary Pakistan since cases are being decided on a daily basis. Chief Justice, Asif Saeed Khosa, declared on Friday that the model courts helped restore public confidence in the judiciary,

which otherwise was blamed for undue delays. The CJP has been making all possible efforts since the time he assumed office, to provide the masses with accessible and cheap justice. Model courts are called a “silent revolution” in the justice system of Pakistan.

Justice Khosa was reportedly speaking at the award distribution ceremony of the Model Criminal Trial Courts (MCTC) at the Supreme Court building, he said that the model courts had materialized the vision of expeditious and inexpensive justice as envisaged in Article 37(d) of the Constitution. The credit went to the judges who had rejuvenated the ailing judicial system under existing and available resources and without any amendments to the related law, he observed.

A total of 12,584 murder and narcotics cases have been decided in around five months by 167 model courts established across the country to conduct speedy trials, according to official data. Against the backdrop of 1.9 million cases pending before law courts at different levels as of January 21, 2019, this is indeed an encouraging sign.

This shows that the setting up of model courts is giving the desired results. Chief Justice Khosa appreciated the services rendered by the model court judges for this glorious national cause and distributed awards among the MCTC judges for deciding maximum number of cases.

Amongst position holders were Sohail Nasir, district and sessions judge (DSJ) of Islamabad-West, who earned five distinctions by securing first position in the country in murder category and third position in joint murder and narcotics category.  However, the model criminal courts (MCTCs) decided 4,897 murder and 7,687 narcotics cases by conducting expeditious trials since their establishment on April 1 this year. A total of 55,619 witnesses were examined in these cases.

A district and sessions judge of the MCTC Islamabad-West topped the list by deciding 69 murder cases, followed by an additional district and sessions judge of the MCTC Qambar-Shahdadkot who decided 60 murder cases. An additional district and sessions judge of the MCTC Mardan decided 55 murder cases.

The statistics show that the model courts in all the four provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory have given good results by deciding cases in a few months which might otherwise have dragged on for years. In most developing countries, court cases linger on for years and decades. There are several causes of this. Law courts have to be fully satisfied before they deliver their judgments. The basic principle on which law functions is, let 99 murderers go scot free, but no innocent should be punished. Law courts are not supposed to rush through while deciding cases.

However, sometimes circumstances arise when speedy trial courts are set up to clear logjam of cases. Adjournments sought by lawyers also delay cases. CJP Khosa has been making all efforts to improve the justice system in Pakistan through modernizing it. In May, for the first time in the history of the country, the Supreme Court of Pakistan began hearing cases through video link. Initially,

the e-court system was available at SC Islamabad and Karachi registry. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that the e-court system would be instrumental in dispensing swift justice at a low cost. Unnecessary delays in dispensation of justice should be discouraged. This is what the model courts are doing.