‘Introduce online judicial system during lockdown’

LAHORE :Speakers at a virtual conference on Thursday stressed the need to utilise Information Technology (IT) for introducing an online judicial system in order to provide justice to the people under the prevailing circumstances.

According to a press release, they were addressing the virtual conference jointly organised by Punjab University and Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy (ILRA) on Thursday.

Senior Vice-President Supreme Court Bar Association Chaudhry Ghulam Murtaza advocate, Punjab Judicial Academy Trainer and veteran lawyer Zafar Iqbal Kalanauri, PU Law College’s Prof Dr Amanullah Malik, ILRA Chairman Syed Shahbaz Bukhari advocate, a large number of lawyers and people from various walks of life participated in the conference.

Addressing the conference, Chaudhry Ghulam Murtaza advocate said e-filing of court cases and presenting arguments through a video link was possible and such practice also existed in Supreme Court in some selected cases.

He said; however, under the prevailing situation of lockdown, this system should be implemented in all courts as “justice delayed is justice denied”. He said an online judicial system could be introduced and implemented by taking all stakeholders into confidence.

Zafar Iqbal Kalanauri advocate said people were facing problems of very serious nature in court cases due to lockdown. He said the real problem was that we had all the resources to resolve such problems with the help of technology but we were not getting a benefit of information technology.

He said through minor amendments to rules, the online judicial system could be introduced and implemented and it was the call of the time. He said an online judicial system would also be environment-friendly and a minimum quantity of paper would be used.

Prof Dr Amanullah Malik said the judicial system could not be brought to a halt due to its specific nature. He said there was a need to introduce reforms to cope with the current challenges.

ILRA Chairman Syed Shahbaz Bukhari said the resources to make the judicial system online were available and there was a need to take appropriate measures in this regard. He said ILRA would provide free training to judicial officers, lawyers and other related staff for introducing an online judicial system.

He said an online judicial system would also help to reduce financial problems being faced by the lawyers and their para-legal staff.