Executive Summary

Justice is the ideal that a rule of law system aims to pursue and realize. The quality and nature of laws determines the rules in accordance with which courts dispense justice. Good laws help pursue the ideal of justice; the governance system run by the Executive determines the quality of rule of law in the polity and the number of citizens aggrieved by the state; while a functional court system is meant to hold the state accountable for discharging its obligations to the citizen as required by the Constitution.

All three pillars of the state – Legislature, Executive and Judiciary – have much room for improving the role they perform within the rule of law system designed to deliver justice. It is for each institution to introspect and hold itself accountable for where it is failing the citizen. The Islamabad High Court seeks to hold itself accountable and fix aspects of the court system in the Federal Capital to the extent that it fails to realize the ideal of justice delivery.

Launch of Justice Reforms Project

The Justice Reforms Project (JRP) was conceptualized by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to restore the public confidence in the country’s judiciaryas an efficient law adjudicator. The initiative aims to portray a refined image of justice delivery system by making high courts more accessible to the litigants and ensure speedy & smooth delivery of the justice.

The formal ceremony to jump start pursuing this initiative was held in the Islamabad High Court, which was witnessed by Mr. Azam Nazeer (Federal Minister for Law & Justice), Chief Justice IHC Mr. Athar Minallah, Dr. Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan (Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Reforms), judges of the IHC, CEO-P3A along with him team, multilateral institutions (World Bank and Asian Development Bank), subject matter specialists and other stakeholders.

The primary objective of launching this initiative is to revamp justice delivery system of the Islamabad Capital Territory to enable it to (a) effectively cope up with the modern-day challenges that are posed through rapid transformation of the technology; (b) optimize allocation of resources to the primary and indirect functions of the courts; and (c) ensure timely justice is served through removing bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the processes. The participants featured active participation in the session which clearly demonstrated their support for the initiative and provided their valuable feedback to make this initiative more inclusive, future-oriented and driven by the best industry practices.

The formal ceremony to jump start pursuing this initiative was held in the Islamabad High Court, which was witnessed by Mr. Azam Nazeer (Federal Minister for Law & Justice), Chief Justice IHC Mr. Athar Minallah, Dr. Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan (Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Reforms), judges of the IHC, CEO-P3A along with him team, multilateral institutions (World Bank and Asian Development Bank), subject matter specialists and other stakeholders.