Judges are not immune from accountability: IHC chief justice – Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The chief judge of the High Court of Islamabad (IHC), Judge Athar Minallah, said on Wednesday that judges are not immune to accountability and to ensure transparency in the judicial and legal system, they must submit to a surrender of merciless accounts.

In a seminar organized by the Bar Association of the High Court of Islamabad (IHCBA), Judge Minallah said that the judges, by their ethics, express their independence through their sentences. He added that the independence of the judiciary means that their decisions should not be capricious and should be delivered without any fear or favor to any party.

"Nor are judges supposed to approve a popular decision, but to decide cases in light of the available evidence and the law of the country," he told the meeting. Judge Minallah also said that there are certain pressure groups and powerful forces that try to influence the trials, but an independent judge certainly does not succumb to such pressure tactics. Regarding the murder of characters and the burden of false information on social networks, he said that this "new" phenomenon is another tool to pressure the justice system. However, he added that he has never worried about such tactics and being a judge, he has always issued judgments with an open and independent mind, on merit.

He says that since 1980 the lower judiciary has been operating under improvised arrangements

The top judge of the Federal Capital Territory said that social networks have expanded in the last 10 years or so and presents a challenge for traditional media. At the same time, he said, "powerful groups" are also using social networks to influence judges and the judicial system.

According to Judge Minallah, a judge "under the influence" of any sector cannot decide a case on merit, as should be the case, and if this becomes a practice, people will lose faith in the judicial system. The system, he said, is there to protect the helpless from the powerful. He further explained that the rule of law is a distinctive feature, common and well established in the most developed countries. "Even Islam teaches the rule of law," he added, to emphasize his point.

Speaking of what he described as the "deplorable condition" of the district courts in the country, Judge Minallah said that since 1980, the lower judiciary has been operating under improvised arrangements, and that the improvement of the district courts in particular It is not among government priorities. However, he said he has addressed the issue with the federal government.

IHCBA President Raja Inam Ameen Minhas, speaking on occasion, expressed his appreciation for Judge Minallah, in particular for having established the district court complex. He also said that the government has agreed in principle to release funds for this complex. Mr. Minhas expressed the hope that the ceremony of laying the first stone of the complex was scheduled for the next few weeks, and that he was confident that this would be the case.

Posted on Dawn, October 10, 2019