September 10, 2005

Islamabad: The implementation of Batch 3 of the Access to Justice Program (AJP) has commenced. This was announced in a statement issued by the Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP), which will implement this component of the AJP in collaboration with the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Ministry of Law. “The whole objective of this initiative is to facilitate the citizens of Pakistan, particularly the poor and marginalized, in accessing justice. Therefore, we shall work to improve the content of important legislations and procedures from a litigant’s perspective”, said CRCP.

The Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights, Government of Pakistan is executing the Access to Justice Program (AJP) through its Project Management Unit (PMU), with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB), to promote access to justice by the citizens of Pakistan.

Explaining the objectives and implementation strategy, Mian Abrar Hafeez, who is coordinating the project, said that one component of the AJP is technical assistance (TA) for institutional development for access to justice. This assistance program has been categorized into six batches, each targeting different areas of justice. The Batch 3 of TA is Community Empowerment / Awareness which is being executed by CRCP. The ToRs of Batch 3 have been divided into seven thematic areas, which include translation and summarization of legal materials into Urdu language; support to public information kiosks in subordinate courts and four high courts; public campaign on freedom of information, consumer protection laws, police reforms, independent prosecution service and judicial accountability; comprehensive review of laws affecting the vulnerable poor; improvement of the reports of ombudsman; and preparation of provincial codes for Balochistan and Sindh. The total duration of this project is 18 months.

Mr. Hafeez further elaborated that the Batch 3 is aimed at implementation of a comprehensive strategy for strengthening judicial independence and legal empowerment of the vulnerable segments of society. In addition to legal research, a holistic advocacy and awareness campaign is being launched on police reforms, freedom of information, consumer protection laws, independent prosecution services, etc. He expressed hope that this initiative would enhance general understanding of citizens about the available laws and empower them to use these laws for justice.

Implementation of Community Empowerment Batch of AJP Begins