12th Pakistan Prosecution Forum in Quetta reflects on bolstering the role of prosecution

14 October 2021, Quetta - The 12th Pakistan Prosecution Forum (PPF) was organized in Quetta on 14th October 2021 under the Balochistan chapter of the PPF. This was the second consultative session hosted under the auspices of the EU-funded Rule of Law Programme, ‘Promoting the Rule of Law and Enhancing the Criminal Justice System in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Newly Merged Districts and Balochistan’. The programme is working towards harmonizing the delivery of justice through relevant legislative reforms and aligning the investigation and prosecution services to deliver better. 

The deliberations picked up momentum towards strengthening the role of prosecution services, underscoring the convening role of UNODC as a strategic partner to the Government of Balochistan. The ensuing discussions stressed the need to learn from the good practices executed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab to realize better coordination practices between police and prosecution, for instance, whether to notify SOPs for drafting reforms in investigation-prosecution or opt for a Memorandum of Understanding. The Government of Balochistan will further deliberate on the proposals and decide the next way forward to this end.

The participants of the PPF represented a cross-section of senior officials of prosecution departments of the provinces who also shared experiences and challenges faced by the prosecution departments of adapting to the constant upsurge of COVID. The Forum further reviewed the statutory provisions of the Balochistan Prosecution Act and the role of the province in the implementation of the Act.

The role of technology was further reinforced through sharing the working of the Case Management Monitoring Systems from KP and Punjab. There were some clear elements of distinction to learn from each design and adapt to the context in Balochistan.

Balochistan police & prosecution also agreed to mutually work on drafting SOPs on police-prosecution coordination.

 

The role of PPF is significant as a joint space for cross-learning and drawing from the real experiences of implementing reforms in enhancing the role of prosecution as a gatekeeper and investigative arm of the rule of law system.