Gearing up for evidence-based delivery of justice and rule of law in Balochistan

3rd Steering Committee Stocktake on Rule of Law, Balochistan

10 March 2020, Quetta - It has been a journey of transformation for the province of Balochistan led by the Government of Balochistan with the technical support of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as its strategic partner in taking forward the work on development and delivery of the roadmap approach for strengthening the criminal justice system in Balochistan.

The province of Balochistan is ahead of the curve in implementing the innovative concept of ‘deliverology’ informed by transfer of knowledge of international best practices in the application of the whole-of-government approach. To this end, a regular stock take approach adopted by the steering committee in Balochistan has set a precedent in advancing the rule of law agenda in the province. In continuation of this commitment, the participants of the third stock take meeting on 10 March 2020 chaired by Mr. Zia Longhove, Minister Home & Tribal Affairs, applauded the impressive progress made on the action plan for the Rule of Law Roadmap and approved the “Baseline Methodology to evidence-based decision making in criminal justice system” and “Processes and Procedures for the governance structure of Rule of Law Roadmap of Balochistan.”

The implementation of the roadmap has come a long way in establishing the building blocks of a sustainable, effective and accountable criminal justice system. The stock take meeting recognises the groundbreaking work that is being led through coordination and collaborative mechanisms between the Delivery Unit and Technical Working Groups to establish a baseline through evidence-driven data collection methodology. The participants agreed on the significance of the activity as a stepping-stone towards enhancing the reform process of the criminal justice system in delivering on their action plans.

The collective efforts in accelerating the delivery of roadmap action plans would help in improving the efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of the justice delivery system, which will inevitably increase access to justice particularly for women, children, poor and disadvantaged persons thereby making the justice system more accessible, less costly and capable of disposing of cases in a timely and just manner for all.

Mr. Mujeeb ur Rehman, Additional Secy to CS Staff and Director Reclamation and Probation, Government of Balochistan and Mr. Abdul Nasir Dotani, Lead Coordinator from the Delivery Unit shared progress on the action plan and PC-1, the execution of which will open up avenues of meaningful reform for strengthening the delivery of rule of law.

Mr. Zia Longhove, Minister Home & Tribal Affairs, Government of Balochistan has urged the institutions of Criminal Justice System to work in a collaborative space through regular coordination and information sharing for making the roadmap approach a success.

UNODC’s Criminal Justice and Legal Reforms Sub-Programme-II is commited to supporting the next steps of evidence-driven performance monitoring, which is one of the enabling features of the roadmap. It will set the course towards delivery of accountable and efficient justice heralding security, peace  and hope for the citizens in the fragile and conflict-sensitive region of Balochistan.

 

This Project is supported by the British High Commission.

 

Media links: https://www.bexpress.com.pk/2020/03/steering-committee-applauds-progress-on-rule-of-law-roadmap-in-balochistan/