PESHAWAR, June 12: The federal government has given approval for the establishment of a separate environmental tribunal for the NWFP, participants were informed on Saturday at a seminar on Access to Justice Programme (AJP).

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Law, Tahir Shahbaz, who is also programme director of AJP, said that the prime minister has given approval for the tribunal and the law division had also issued a notification in this regard.

He said the finance division would now allocate funds for the tribunal and hopefully it would start functioning this year. Presently, the cases pertaining to the NWFP have been dealt with by the tribunal chaired by a judge of the Lahore High Court.

Mr Shahbaz said that under the AJP the Asian Development Bank had sanctioned a loan of US $ 350 million out of which US $ 150 million had been released to the government.

Theprogressreview seminar on AJP wasattendedby representatives of ADB, judges, lawyers, officials of prison and police departments and NGOs' representatives.

The assistant general counsel ADB Hamid Sharif said that after staring the AJP the bureaucracy had now realizedthat access to justice was directly relatedto development and reduction in poverty.

Mr Sharif informed the participants that the programme had focussed on the promulgation of new laws and introduction of a number of procedural amendments for improving performance of justice sector including separation of judiciary from the executive; freedom of information; conferring powers on district courts to hear habeas corpus; consumer rights protection; contempt of court; establishment of environmental tribunals; and, introduction of legislation to hold public servants liable for acts of omission and commission.

The Peshawar district and sessions judge, Hayat Ali Shah, pointed out that as compared to other cities in the country, the case of Peshawar was more complicated due to presence of large number of Afghan refugees. He added that more than 50 per cent of the offenders involved in various nature of crime were Afghans. He added that presently the pace of disposal of cases, both civil and criminal, was more than the number of fresh cases instituted.

Mr Shah pointed out that here legal practise in both civil and criminal cases was concentrated with only five or six senior counsel, which often resulted in delay in the disposal of cases. Herecommendedthat separate prisoners' wardsshouldbe established in the major hospitals, as presently thepoor prisoners had nowhere to go for medical treatment.

Participants pointed out that the probation department had been neglected in the AJP. They added that not a single female probation officer had been functioning in the province due to which women offenders could not be released on probation.

The participants also recommended that on the pattern of Access to Information Ordinance, laws should also be enacted on provincial level so that public had access toprovincial departments, which would increase transparency in the working of these departments.

The NWFP Inspector General of Prisons, Col Abdur Rauf, pointed out that only in three prisons the facility of ambulances was available. He said they had requested for establishment of a new prison in Hangu.

Maryam Bibi of an NGO, Khwendo Kor, stated that jirga system was in vogue in different parts of the province. She asked whether the AJP also covered that informal system of justice.

Mr Hamid Sharif pointed out that at present they had focused the formal sector as they believed that once the formal system was strengthened the informal system could work properly in its shadow.

Advocate Jalaluddin stated that due to scattered courts in Peshawar the lawyers' community had been facing multiple problems.

Ms Rukhshanda Naz of Aurat Foundation suggested that offices of other departments should be removed from the Judicial Complex so that all the courts could be established there.

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