Pakistan: a tradition of judicial subservience
connections, or are simply decided by judges and law officers doing deals with their pals.’11 In 2005 the authorities set up a National Commission for the Elaboration of Anti-corruption Strategies, created by a decree of 17 October 2003.12 The Minister of Justice is thinking of establishing a committee with responsibility for monitoring the ethics of judges and law officers. Between 1974 and 1999, successive governments have resorted to different methods to combat corruption, including a national inspectorate, a finance inspectorate, a special court responsible for trying those accused of misappropriating
public funds, a crime and injustice commission, a moralstandards commission after the coup d’état of 1996, and so forth. Since the legal armoury already exists (the Law on Illicit Enrichment, anti-corruption articles in the criminal code, the Law on Public Procurement contracts), it is high time to apply these laws when corruption is detected, and to give free rein to the bodies responsible for enforcing them.
Judge Djibo Abdoulaye (Association Nigérienne de lutte contre la Corruption, Niamey)
11 Circular 1165/MJ/GS/CRP of 4 September 2002, quoted by Maître Couliba Moussa, lawyer of Maman Abou and Oumarou Keita, in an interview in Le Républicain (Niger), 24 August 2006. The two journalists are being tried for propagation of false news and defamation. 12 Decree 2003-256/PRN/PM of 17/10/2003 establishing the Commission, and defining its composition and remit.
Pakistan: a tradition of judicial subservience
Legal system: Common law, adversarial, plural (with elements of Islamic law), federal Judges per 100,000 people: 1.11 Judge’s salary at start of career: US $1,1952 Supreme Court judge’s salary: US $12,4323 GNI per capita: US $6904 Annual budget of judiciary: Not obtained Total annual budget: US $21.8 billion5 Percentage of annual budget: Not obtained Are all court decisions open to appeal up to the highest level? Yes Institution in charge of disciplinary and administrative oversight: Not independent Are all rulings publicised? No Code of conduct for judges? Yes 1 World Bank (2000) 2 TI National Integrity System Report (2003) 3 Dawn (Pakistan) 23 December 2003 4 World Bank Development Indicators (2005) 5 www.finance.gov.pk/budget/
The problem of corruption in Pakistan’s judiciary cannot be understood without looking at the history of the institution. The justice system was inherited in its entirety from the British colonial rulers. Even today, the official language of justice is English, which 98 per cent
of people do not understand. The courts were – and continue to be – perceived as a battleground for the moneyed and powerful. The majority uses informal dispute-resolution mechanisms such as the jirga or panchayat, particularly in rural areas.
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