ONE of the greatest obstacles hindering an efficient legal system in Pakistan is the paperwork in courts. This outdated method of working must be replaced with a new ‘paperless’ policy. In fact, going paperless will save a lot of time of the lawyers as well as the expenditure of the judicial department.

As things stand today, every lawyer has to hire a clerk for filing a case, filling forms and making photocopies, etc. If the new policy is adopted, and cases are filed through emails or through online portals, it will save cost and time of the lawyers. Besides, it will save salary expenses of the staff hired to maintain files as well as bulk data.

Moreover, the policy will also eradicate chances of corruption and bribery that are very common in the system, and save the environment from such tendencies. The framework for it can be laid down in two phases.

In the first phase, a general consensus from the top management is required for purchasing laptops, scanners, servers and hiring of information technology (IT) experts. In the second phase, trainings should be conducted at grassroots level for judges, lawyers and other staff to teach them how to operate these tools.

If a solid strategy is drawn to materialise this idea, efficiency of workflow can surely be enhanced, and the common man will be able to get justice quickly.

Haseeb Ahmad
Faisalabad

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2024