Roadmap approved to decrease acquittal rate in serious crimes

Sun, March 08, 2020

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cabinet’s Sub-Committee on Rule of Law Roadmap on Friday approved the key roadmap priorities to help achieve decreasing acquittal rate in serious crimes, minimise the case disposal time with focus on undertrials and reduce overcrowding in jails.

Minister for law, parliamentary affairs and human rights Sultan Mohammad Khan presided over the inaugural meeting.

Minister for food Qalander Khan Lodhi, additional chief secretary Shakeel Qadar, secretaries home and law, provincial police chief Sanaullah Abbasi and Justice System Support Programme (JSSP) representatives were in attendance.

He emphasised that the roadmap approach guided the rule of law institutions for improving their efficiencies as well as addressing hurdles and bottlenecks in cross-institutional coordination towards the effective dispensation of justice.

Cabinet body sets priorities to minimise case disposal time, reduce overcrowding in jails

He assured his full support in taking up the process of roadmap implementation in coordination with the criminal justice institutions for achieving the milestones in a timely and effective manner.

He said all the key issues identified and discussed should be addressed at all levels as required and that the sub-committee should move towards finding solutions in its next meeting.

Police chief Sanaullah Abbasi presented a comprehensive plan to improve the police efficiency for the delivery of roadmap results.

He shared the initiatives being taken to improve investigation standards and quality, including the increased focus on the provision of the victim support services.

He also shared the recommendations for the budgetary revisions necessary to institutionalise the measures to be taken for the reform agenda of the roadmap.

Secretary home Ikramullah Khan briefed the committee about the progress on the roadmap priorities, governing mechanisms and department-level engagement. He said the implementation management of the roadmap was based on a systematic process through which the committee would drive progress and ensure delivery results using data.

While reviewing the current status on the trends of acquittal rate in serious crimes, the members of the committee agreed to conduct more in-depth analysis and generate evidence for the factors contributing to the problem.

Additional chief secretary Shakeel Qadir Khan assured the departments of his office’s complete support in pursuing the reform agenda.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2020

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