A roadmap to evidence-led rule of law and accountable justice delivery to the citizens in Sindh

28 January 2020, Karachi. The rule of law reforms in Sindh finally get to see the light of day through a phenomenal progress made by the Government of Sindh towards the delivery of whole of government approach led by the delivery of the Roadmap's Action Plan 2020-2021. The Steering Committee completed a second stock-take exercise on 28 January 2020 to endorse the action plan. In addition, the simultaneous launch of a Delivery Unit in Sindh is a turning point towards uplifting the profile and performance of the rule of law in Sindh. 

The Delivery Unit is conceived as an agile and innovative concept that offers robust functionality to translate the roadmap's vision into evidence-based implementation, policy and practice. The Unit will work through data monitoring and performance management across the entire criminal justice chain of institutions, striving to bring out the best in each institution. 

A regular stock take approach adopted by the steering committee in Sindh has set a precedent in advancing the rule of law agenda in the province. Ms. Helen Barnes, Head of Rule of Law at the BHC emphasized that BHC's support to the Roadmap, which recognises the value of promoting a uniform, systematic and structured approach towards strengthening the rule of law across Pakistan.

The target-setting through key performance indicators of reduction in the Under-Trial Prisoners (UTPs), improved conviction rate and effective institutional response towards Sexual & Gender Based Violence (SGBV) bring out the innovative nature of reforms that work towards fixing the existing gaps in service delivery across the criminal justice system. The robust data collection protocols and analysis strategies, including establishment of a functioning data management systems in the near future will go a long way in aligning the criminal justice system.

Dr. Muhammad Usman Chachar, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Government of Sindh acknowledged the hard work of all stakeholders in meeting milestones of the action plan. This puts a spotlight on UNODC's Criminal Justice and Legal Reforms Sub-Programme-II's continued commitment to progress and assistance to the Steering Committee and Technical Working Group (TWG) to perform a regular review of the annual action plan.

The catalysing role of joint ownership, common agenda-setting and coordination are salient requirements for the roadmap's "joined-up support" to the implementation process. This will hone the institutional performance of the entire CJS.

The efforts are all lighting up the path towards bringing hope and peace to the lives of the citizens, including vulnerable groups of women, juveniles and under-trial prisoners who often end up languishing in prisons for years, waiting for the outcomes of their trials until they lose the hope to live. The human side of evidence-driven performance monitoring is one of the transformative features of the roadmap that will set the course towards delivery of accountable and efficient justice for all.

 

The Rule of Roadmap in Sindh is supported by the British High Commission (BHC), Government of the UK.

 

Media links:
https://twitter.com/jmilsom_unodc/status/1222385138794930177?s=12