Is Pakistan a just society? No. Is there good governance, however vaguely defined? Not really. Do all institutions of the state have a duty to nudge society towards becoming more just and state institutions towards delivering better governance?

Yes. So what Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had to say on these matters on Tuesday cannot really be quibbled with in substance.

But context is everything sometimes, and the chief justice’s claim that state institutions other than the judiciary “have started feeling relaxed as a result whereof good governance is being compromised” will be interpreted as yet another shot across the bow of the executive in the ongoing ‘tussle’ between the government and the judiciary.

A section of the media, political class and legal community has already decided who is at fault for that tussle: the government. The Supreme Court Bar Association president Qazi Anwar went as far as to claim that the prime minister’s assertion that President Zardari has constitutional immunity amounts to a “serious threat to the system” and that by publicly disagreeing with certain judicial nominations of the chief justice the government is ‘violating’ the constitution.

It is unfortunate that the entire edifice of justice has once again been made contingent on the fate of certain individuals.

The NRO posed some challenge to the letter and spirit of the constitution and therefore deserved serious scrutiny. And the ability to apply the law scrupulously (with no pre-judgments) to the head of the state, President Zardari, would demonstrate that the rule of law is indeed being revived.

But the focus, obsession in some quarters, on these narrower concerns threatens to overshadow the other things that are vital to the creation of a more just society and an executive that is held to account.

Where, for example, is the debate about the desperately needed overhaul of the criminal justice system? It’s become well known that the state secures convictions in less than 10 per cent of cases, but there has been no movement towards addressing the issue.

From training the police to become better investigators and evidence collectors to pouring more resources into the judiciary to having a better prosecution service, change is needed at every level. And while corruption appears to be on the minds of many, systemic solutions are not.

Occasional lip service is paid to a new accountability law, but there has been no serious debate in the media or civil society. The same applies to amending the rules whereby state contracts are handed out. It should be obvious: unless root causes are addressed, the situation on the corruption and good governance fronts will not improve significantly.
Source: Dawn
Date:2/11/2010