Addressing a national judicial conference "Justice for All" organised by the Supreme Court of Pakistan here in connection with its golden jubilee celebrations, the Prime Minister urged the judiciary to face challenges of ensuring access to justice by all - rich and poor alike.
He said the judiciary is accountable to higher values of propriety, independence and integrity, and we have to uphold these values to make our judicial system modern.
The Prime Minister said: "It is a tall order and needs continuous efforts and resources to upgrade our judicial system. We still face daunting challenges of ensuring equal access to justice by all, expeditious dispensing of justice, and pacing up with changing times and changing needs."
He said challenges of new millennium demand a paradigm shift in governance structures if we are to remain competitive in the global market. Economic growth, political advancement, social progress and judicial framework are fast emerging as cardinal pillars for development that have to move forward in parallel and in symphony with each other.
"To a common man as well as investors, not only it is vital to have access to justice in consonance with law, but it is also equally important that disputes are resolved and rights are determined and enforced in a timely and expeditious manner," he said.
He said population growth, tension in the society, increase in business and economic activities inevitably mean more litigation. The common law courts across the globe have reached the conclusion that judges alone cannot deal with burgeoning litigation in a timely manner.
Fundamental problems of judicial administration in Pakistan relate to access to justice by the poor, case management and redressing of small cases, and additionally our adversarial litigation environment, which has overloaded courts, he added.
He said the federal government in collaboration with the judiciary and provincial governments are implementing "Access to Justice Programme (AJP)" to address issues associated with administering expeditious justice and to revamp and modernise our judicial and legal system.
The Prime Minister said legal reforms package announced by the government focuses on simplifying the procedure and providing access to justice by the poor.
He further said rule of law and an independent judiciary are sine qua non for democracy and economic development.
"Our courts stand as safeguard of our most precious rights and liberties under the constitution and it is their courtrooms in which rule of law is upheld, as the sturdy backbone of our society.
The judiciary has contributed significantly to the development of the jurisprudence, safeguard the national unity," he added.
He said relationship between the bar and the bench is a key to success of various reforms.
He asked the bar to come forward to assist the bench in expeditious disposal of cases and to bring qualitative improvement in legal profession as well as overall judicial environment.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said denial of justice has led to acute sense of insecurity and growing tendency to commit crimes.
He said the strategy adopted and steps taken in the Supreme Court are working well and producing results.
Punjab governor Lieutenant General Khalid Maqbool (Retd), chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, judges of Supreme Court, high courts, Federal Shariah Court, law officers, representatives of bars and judicial officials attended the conference.
Pakistan Bar Council vice-chairman Ali Ahmed Khurd, Supreme Court Bar Association president Malik Muhammad Qayyum also spoke on the occasion.
The Prime Minister also presented souvenirs to heirs of Barrister Hussein Shaheed Soharwardi, Yahya Bakhtiar, Barrister Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, A.K. Brohi, I.I. Chundrigarh, Mian Mehmud Ali Kasuri, Arbab Sikandar, Abdul Rehman Khan, Ali Ahmed Warsi, Tufail Ali Abdur Rehman, Khalid Ishaq, Barrister Muhammad Waseem, Hameedul Haq Chaudhry, Barrister Muhammad Salim, Manzoor Qadir, Muhammad Anwar, Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed Khan, Shaikh Riaz Muhammad, Chaudhry Muhammad Farooq and Muhammad Ahmed Mirza.
The Chief Justice also presented a model of Supreme Court building to the Prime Minister.