ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court has suggested introducing an e-court system at its principal seat in Islamabad as well as branch registries to provide video link faciliies for lawyers to argue their cases, according to a statement issued by the apex court on Wednesday.
In a full court meeting chaired by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, it was agreed that an e-court system should be established within the minimum possible period of time to facilitate lawyers and reduce the backlog of cases at the branch registries.
According to the statement, it was noted that between September and December 2018, the Supreme Court had heard 6,342 cases against the institution of 6,407 cases, with an additional 40,535 pending cases.
The meeting agreed that special benches should be constituted to deal with different categories of cases, “adjournments should be discouraged, appeals should be fixed in chronological order and reviews must be fixed in the next week subject to the availability of author judges.”
“The full court showed satisfaction over institution and disposal rate and discussed different strategies, ways and means to bring improvements in case management for effective and smooth functioning of the court and underlined the need to categorize the cases to diminish the backlog of cases and to make untiring efforts to improve the dispensation of justice,” the statement read.
Justice Khosa was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court on January 19. He has presided over 55,000 cases in his career spanning more than two decades.
Prior to assuming office, he had vowed to do his best to reduce the time taken in the delivery of justice at all levels of the judicial hierarchy.
There are about 1.9 million cases pending in the country before all the courts, according to data provided by the Supreme Court.
SC mulls over e-court system to reduce backlog
SC mulls over e-court system to reduce backlog
- More than 40,000 cases pending in Pakistan’s top court
- It also recommended introduction of special benches for different categories
Pakistan stresses increasing trade, economic engagement with Europe amid EU-India deal
- Deputy PM Ishaq Dar chairs meeting to review measures to strengthen Pakistan-EU economic and trade cooperation
- Free trade agreement grants Indian exporters sweeping tariff-free access to EU, Pakistan’s second-largest export market
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday stressed the importance of deepening trade and economic engagement with the European Union (EU) amid the bloc’s recent free trade agreement with India.
India and EU last month announced they had successfully concluded negotiations for a free trade agreement with the EU, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as the “mother of all trade deals.” The agreement grants Indian exporters sweeping tariff-free access to the EU, Pakistan’s second-largest export market. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the deal created a free trade zone of two billion people.
The main concern for Pakistan is that the India-EU deal may significantly reduce Islamabad’s tariff advantage under the EU’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus, which allows duty-free access for many Pakistani exports in return for commitments on labor rights, human rights and governance. Pakistan’s foreign office, however, has said it continues to view its trade relationship with the EU, particularly under the GSP Plus framework, as mutually beneficial.
Dar chaired a high-level inter-ministerial meeting to review measures aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s economic and trade cooperation with EU on Monday, the foreign ministry said.
“DPM/FM underscored the importance of deepening and expanding trade and economic engagement with the EU, noting that the EU remains a key economic partner for Pakistan, particularly under the GSP Plus framework,” the statement said.
He highlighted that Pakistan has successfully completed four biennial GSP Plus reviews, reaffirming Islamabad’s commitment to fully meeting its obligations under the scheme to expand mutually beneficial trade opportunities.
The meeting was attended by the federal minister of law and senior officials as well as Pakistan’s ambassador to the EU.
The development takes place as Pakistan’s exports dwindle. After rising 5 percent to $32.1 billion last fiscal year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported that exports fell 9 percent to $15.2 billion in the first half of the current year through December.
Pakistani industrialists and financial analysts have urged the government to reduce domestic production costs, particularly high power tariffs. EU accounts for a substantial share of Pakistan’s exports, particularly textiles and garments.
“The EU-India FTA will have a definite impact on Pakistan’s textile exports to the EU,” said Shankar Talreja, the head of research at Karachi-based Topline Securities Ltd, told Arab News last month.
“Pakistani companies’ competitive advantage to compete against a giant like India needs to be restored in the form of regionally aligned energy tariffs and policy certainty.”
