Karachi: Pakistan Council on Foreign Relations (PCFR), a non-profit,
independent, nonpartisan, and multidimensional forum, organized a seminar on “Justice Delayed
Justice Denied: Challenges for Pakistan’s Justice System and Possible Solutions” at a hotel in
Karachi. Mr. Justice Gulzar Ahmed former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr. Anwar Mansoor Khan
former Attorney General of Pakistan, and Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed former President of Sindh
High Court Bar Association addressed the seminar.
Mr. Ahsan Mukhtar Zubairi Secretary General PCFR presented the welcome address. In his
address, Mr. Zubairi said that Judiciary has a fundamental role to maintain order in society.
While presenting the introductory remarks Ambassador G R Baluch Senior Board member of
PCFR said that this is an important subject in contemporary Pakistan as delay in deciding cases
has become the core issue in our justice system. Ambassador Baluch further highlighted that
modern techniques such as artificial intelligence can help deal with the issues judicial
system.
Barrister Salahuddin said that systematic problems cause delays in the dispensation of justice. He
further highlighted that these problems can be addressed through solutions based on proper data
analysis and a dedicated task force mandated to deal with each case separately. In his address Mr. Anwar
Mansoor Khan highlighted that overloaded high courts and lack of case management result in
problems in our justice system. Mr. Khan further said that every judge must be trained in case
management to effectively tackle the volume of cases. Justice Gulzar Ahmed addressed the
seminar as the Chief Guest and highlighted that judiciary in Pakistan is under severe stress owing
to the pendency of cases which has not happened overnight rather the phenomenon is as old as the
country itself. Justice Gulzar proposed various solutions and maintained that courts should give
a timeline for completing the hearing of cases as there is no legal prohibition on courts in giving
a timeline. The event was attended by members of the Karachi-based diplomatic corps, members of
the legal fraternity, PCFR members, and members of the business community.
