Punishments without judicial proceedings becoming norm: Saad

Former federal minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique has urged the government and judiciary to jointly develop a strategy for ensuring prompt justice and swift verdicts in cases involving serious crimes. In a social media post, Rafique warned that Pakistan's justice system was facing a serious breakdown, with prolonged delays, obstacles to legal proceedings and inadequate protection for complainants and victims undermining public confidence in the rule of law. Rafique said state institutions were responsible for bringing those involved in serious crimes within the grip of the law, while the judiciary had the duty to ensure that offenders were punished after fair and speedy trials. He said the justice system had effectively reached a state of breakdown, with extraordinary delays and hurdles preventing the timely delivery of justice. According to Rafique, complainants and victims were neither being heard properly nor provided with the protection they needed. The PML-N leader added that ordinary citizens were being deprived of justice, raising concerns about the consequences of a system that failed to provide timely and effective legal remedies. Law enforcement agencies assuming judicial roles Rafique warned that the failure to deliver justice was creating a situation in which law enforcement agencies had begun assuming judicial roles themselves. He said punishments imposed without proper judicial proceedings were increasingly becoming the norm. Warning of the dangers of this trend, he said that if it continued, no one would remain safe. Warning against people establishing own courts The former minister cautioned that the consequences could extend beyond law enforcement agencies taking on judicial functions if an effective justice system was not established. He warned that power could ultimately fall into the hands of influential individuals, leaving people to settle disputes and administer their own versions of justice. Rafique said people could begin setting up their own 'courts' in public squares, streets and marketplaces if the situation continued to deteriorate. He urged the government and judiciary to take coordinated action before the country reached such a point. He reiterated that a joint strategy was needed to ensure swift trials and timely verdicts in serious criminal cases, stressing the importance of a functioning justice system in protecting citizens and upholding the rule of law. Pakistan News, News Pakistan