Aisha Atique

CHALLENGES FOR PAKISTAN

Weaknesses of Judicial System
Judiciary in Pakistan at the district level is itself a hurdle in the way of speedy justice. It’s
hosting three kinds of problems like insufficient number of judges, recruitment of inexperienced
officials or functionally illiterate judges with no specialization over the civil or criminal branch.
Specialization and expertise over criminal or civil branches of law are a point of great
concentration. Such options shall be given to them on the initial phase of training in judicial
academies and then, expert lawyers of relevant fields shall be called in to guide them. They shall
perform their duties in the specialized field till retirement.
The role of witnesses in criminal and civil cases is that of a backbone. Protection of judges and
their families is crucial, especially in sensitive or high-profile cases to avoid providing
testimonies out of fear.
The incumbent chief justice with the help of government is required to take the problem of
delayed justice seriously and discuss it with bars, eminent jurists and lawyers to derive out a
permanent solution for it.

“Time limitation for a declaration of the decree for both civil and criminal cases
needs to be introduced.”
There should be full-time devotion of a SC judge and at least two high court judges to a time-
bound commission tasked with the identification of causes of and reforms for judicial delay.
Most importantly, it must attempt to survey the views of the actual sufferers of the system – the
litigants, complaints, witnesses and the accused. Moreover, the commission should include or at
least solicit the views of other participants in the system including lawyers, prosecutors, police
and the government.
The main aim of judicial reforms should be elimination of unnecessary litigation and facilitating
smooth running of affairs between the state and its citizens and to act within the four corners of
the law. It is painful that at present the government is the main litigant. It usurps the rights of
people and then drags poor citizens in courts.

Lack of Education and Consciousness

The father of nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, his main goal of the education
system of Pakistan was to develop national character of Pakistani generation. This national
character would contain high sense of responsibility, social integrity, selfless service to the
nation and morality on the part of the people of Pakistan.
1. There should be sufficient budgetary allocation for education in the national GDP. This will
provide the system with resources to take fresh breath of life.
Aisha Atique

2. There should be quality institutions for the professional development of teachers form primary
to higher levels. For this purpose the existing system of teacher education institutions must be
provided with funds qualified human resources to run programs of training for teachers on
periodical basis.

3. The system of accountability must be strengthened and all the professionals associated with
the system of education should be educated to own their responsibilities on individual and
collective basis. This help in creating a sense of ownership of the system and its functions.

4. Curriculum should be evaluated on annual basis. In this regard a vast survey could be
conducted to seek opinions of teachers, parents and community regarding their expectations and
observations. In this light of this and the expert recommendations of the educations researchers
the curriculum goals should be redefined and such curriculum should be prepared which caters to
the psyche and needs of the society and the country without any discrimination of cast, color and
creed.

5. There should be as less political interference as possible. This will allow the system to
function smoothly and without any discrimination. Frequent political intervention creates gaps in
the system which has led to corruption and other evils.

6. Polices should be implemented without any delay of time and resources. There should be a
strong political will on the part of the government to implement polices without any delay. Poor
policy implementation has led to creation of gaps and trust deficit on the part of the public and
government agencies.

7. Examination system should be made free form the mafia of unfair means, corruption and
illegal gratifications. For this purpose the system of supervision and inspection could be
improved both physically and theoretically. The government should enhance the salaries and the
education professionals so that their tendencies are not diverted towards evil means of getting
favors and support.

8. The culture of research should be promoted within educational institutions. For this purpose
the pace of research oriented programs in teaching and learning should be accelerated in
educational institutions around the country especially at higher levels. Government should
increase the volume of funding to higher education commission for this purpose.

9. Technical education should be made a part of secondary education. Classes for carpentry,
electrical, and other technical education must be included in the curriculum.

10. Local government system is helpful in promoting education and literacy.

11. Unemployment of educated men and women is a major concern for Pakistan. There should
be career counseling of the pupils in schools so that they have an understanding of job market
and they can develop their skills accordingly.