The president is thought to have been referring to the situation where inordinate delays ensue between the announcement of a summarised or short verdict in a case, and then the release of the detailed full judgement authored by a member of the bench hearing the case. Most of the time, petitioners are unable to avail any relief awarded by the court before the release of the latter, at which point the case can be said to have been disposed.

He also reiterated that the government believes in the independence of the judiciary and is committed to ensuring the professional benefits of judges.

“As a lawyer, I know how difficult and complicated the judicial proceeding is and how much effort a judge has to give. But even then, I would say that the judges need to do more to keep pace with the growing number of cases,” the president said.

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“The Supreme Court has a long history of protecting the constitution and ensuring people’s rights during critical times for the country.”

Mentioning some positive aspects of the judicial process in recent times, the president pointed to how the Covid-19 pandemic was not allowed to cripple the system: “An ordinance was issued on May 9 this year to conduct trials virtually to ensure justice to the people even amid the pandemic. It later became law.”

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“Conducting the court proceedings virtually has made it possible for the judges to ensure justice without a physical presence of people at the court premises,” he added.

“An online cause list has now been introduced in the Supreme Court, and the online bail confirmation system is working effectively,” Hamid further said.

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Calling for all court proceedings to be carried out digitally, the president said: “Since the Supreme Court is the ‘Court of Record,’ it is crucial to preserve all of its documents and activities – from the filing of the case to the announcement of the verdict – digitally.”

At a full court meeting of the Supreme Court in October 2017, it was decided to observe Supreme Court Day on 18 December every year.

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