The Decline of Pakistan’s Criminal Justice System: State Responsibility or Institutional Failure?

Abstract

The systemic failure of Pakistan's criminal justice system is the biggest threat to democratic governance and the rule of law in Pakistan. This article examines whether the breakdown of the criminal justice system is due to institutional incompetence, policy inconsistency, or state negligence. It outlines the development of Pakistan's criminal justice system, identifies its enduring shortcomings, and reveals the wide ranging effects of political interference and obstacles to the legal system. The study investigates the fact that our criminal justice system is very old and does not meet the needs of our time. The second problem is weak prosecution and the lack of balance and that is the reason of public mistrust in this system has increased considerably and the trust in the institution has become very low. It identifies various areas for improvement of Pakistan's criminal justice system by analyzing the changes and improvements that have been made in the other common law jurisdiction. The decline of systemic justice includes both the incompetence of institutions and the lack of accountability of the state. To restore confidence in the Pakistan's criminal justice system, there is a great need for change and efforts should be made in this regard and in this way the state should be made accountable. In this, such policies should be made in which our criminal justice system moves towards improvement and professional expertise and competent judges should be recruited in the institution of justice and a system of accountability should be created in it and checks and balances are necessary on it.