KARACHI, Jan 12: Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro has announced a raft of decisions including the abolishment of the posts of executive district officer for law in all the districts of the province and the establishment of evening courts within a week.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, he said that fast-track courts would also be set up to hear cases of small causes. He said the evening courts, which would function from 5pm to 8pm, would be presided over by additional sessions judges, senior civil judges and civil judges at the lower judicial level. They would hear cases of those accused who were out on bail so that the backlog of cases and appeals in criminal, civil and other cases could be reduced.

Likewise, high court judges in the evening courts would hear old appeals pending with them.

Mr Soomro said by way of explanation that the EDOs for law in the districts were not part of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance and were, in fact, a burden on the exchequer. He said the elected government had decided to change all acts and ordinances enforced by the “dictator” on a step-by-step basis in order to restore the 1973 Constitution.

“These decisions have been taken in consultation with the federal government to help people get justice without an unnecessary delay,” he said.

Mr Soomro said the other decisions included the revision of the Jail Manual 1886 within a week so that “it could be brought in accord with the ground realities”.

Prison reforms were also being introduced, he said, adding that under the proposed reforms the person sentenced to death would not be sent to the death cell until his mercy appeal had been rejected at the highest level.

Likewise, the government had decided that no prisoner would be allowed to be kept in fetters. A prisoner might have handcuffs, which would also be removed if ordered by the trial judge when he was produced in court.

According to the reforms, he pointed out, all prisons in the province would have four types of barracks: for convicts, for undertrials, for minors and for political prisoners.

The barracks for political prisoners’ would have TV sets and other facilities. In every prison, there would be a medical dispensary and a courtroom for the trial of “dangerous and desperate” prisoners. Besides, there would be a school where teachers would be appointed to teach prisoners Urdu, Sindhi and English.

The law minister said that during the current month 104 deputy district attorneys, each on a monthly salary of Rs20,000, would be appointed in the province “purely on merit”. They would appear in courts on behalf of the government.

Mr Soomro also criticised the previous government for bifurcating civil and criminal laws into two departments contrary to the world practice of having one department and being dealt by one law officer. But the government had made expenditure from “access to justice programme” funds whose funding was closed in December.

He said the expenditure recurred on the Sindh criminal law department was of Rs30.6 million which would be a big burden on Sindh to arrange such a huge amount. He said the government had decided to audit the funds spent from the access to justice programme as it was in the knowledge of the government that in some cases Rs500,000 was shown for buying furniture which was dumped in stores as there was no room for its use.

The law minister said the government had also decided that in the future only those lawyers would be eligible for appointment as advocates-general and additional advocates-general who had enrolment in the Supreme Court.

The government also decided to provide legal services to prisoners who could not afford to hire services of lawyers and those inmates who were in prison for want of fine money would be helped out from the Zakat fund.He said the salary structure of judges in Sindh would be brought on a par with the judges in Punjab and in the future examination for appointment of civil judges in Grade 18 would be conducted by the Sindh Public Service Commission as was a practice in Punjab, Balochistan and the NWFP.

All acts and law books would be translated into Urdu and Sindhi with explanation for the benefit of the people.

He said the federal government had agreed to appoint a civil judge and a sessions judge in Islamabad on three-year deputation from each province and two judges from each province for the high court in Islamabad, which had nine judges on its bench.

The government had also sanctioned Rs200,000 for the Sindh bar council to buy computers as was requested by the bar.

He said the government had also decided to set up another ballistic laboratory in the province in Larkana as the present laboratory, functioning in Karachi, was set up in 1983 and was taking time in carrying out verification of use of weapons in crimes.

The law minister said a camp office of the Sindh Public Service Commission was also being set up in Larkana which would be inaugurated on Jan 15.

Besides, with the assistance of China and Malaysia, the government had also decided to build 1,000 quarters for poor people. Out of them, 500 housing units would be built in Larkana and 250 each in Naudero and Rato Dero.Without taking names, the law minister said that those who claimed that the Sindh assembly was not carrying out any legislation were forgetting that since last April, when it met for the first time, the present assembly had completed 58 out of the 70 days sittings required in a year and during this period the assembly had passed 11 bills while 13 more bills were in the pipeline. He said it was not necessary to have only 70 days’ sittings, but the assembly could go beyond if the legislation business needed to be carried out during its calendar year, to be completed in April.