The Government is going to constitute a Law Commission to review some of the laws which have become redundant over a period of time to improve the justice system in the state, said Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law and Justice Abdul Haq while reviewing the performance of prosecution and investigation wings of the Law Department here today. He said that after a careful review, the government will ascertain the viability and applicability of laws in the present times and will delete ‘obsolete’ laws from the statutes. The government will further mull amending some laws based on the recommendations of the Law Commission. While seeking suggestions from legal experts, the Minister asked that if there is a need being felt for amendments in certain criminal laws. He said the suggestions in this regard could be forwarded to the law department so that the government can work on improving the criminal justice system in the state. Calling for mutual cooperation between prosecution wing of Law Department and Investigation wing of Police Department, Abdul Haq said the officers of both the wings need to work diligently as all are responsible for providing justice to the aggrieved people. He said coordination between the investigating agencies, forensic experts, medical experts and prosecutors can lead to foolproof mechanism for establishing the case during criminal trial.
Abdul Haq said joint efforts should be made to fix the loopholes in the investigation and prosecution stages so that the criminals are not acquitted on the basis of weaknesses in investigation. He said in Criminal Justice System all stake holders must contribute their bit religiously which is paramount to justice system. He said government mulls to fine-tune the criminal justice system in the state by deputing dedicated professional police officers for investigation of the cases. Expressing concern over certain shortcomings in drug related cases, the Minister directed the law officials to make the cases strong and foolproof to ensure that the alleged criminals do not go scot-free and asked the Director Prosecution to issue guidelines to the Prosecuting Officers to plug lacunas in such cases. He also directed DIGs to take regular reviews of working of Prosecuting Officers, Public prosecutors and Investigating Officers.
Minister further stated that the department will regularly monitor the performance of all officers and promotions will only be made based on performance of the officers. He called for upgrading the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and directed the Director FSL to make relevant recommendations to Home Department for the up-gradation of FSL so that all the necessary investigations can be done within the state. He also directed Director Health Jammu to ensure that medical reports related to criminal cases should be provided to investigating team immediately and doctors should ensure their attendance in court cases to provide their statements when required.
Abdul Haq said constant studies should be carried out for streamlining the court processes and the process re-engineering should be carried out by respective High Courts and rules of procedures for civil as well as criminal cases should be finalized at the earliest based on model rules framed in this regard.The meeting was attended by Advocate General Jahangir Iqbal Ganaie, Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) SP Vaid, Inspector General of Police (Jammu) Danesh Rana, Secretary Law, Abdul Majeed Bhat, DIG’s of Jammu-Kathua-Samba range, Doda range and Rajouri-Poonch range, Director FSL, Director Health Services (Jammu), Joint-Director Prosecution, Chief Prosecuting Officers, Prosecuting Officers, Additional Prosecuting Officers and law officers of various district courts.