The competent prosecution of criminal offences is a fundamental term of our social contract. The state investigates, arms the prosecutor, determines and provides the venue for litigation and hands down the sentence to the guilty. In return, citizens are entitled to expect that criminal prosecutions are properly financed and capably litigated. However, the reality bears no correlation to the fundamental terms of our social contract.
Pakistan’s legal system is a derivative of the English legal system. However, unlike the latter, the legal system in Pakistan is confronted with an array of problems. A look into our legal framework reflects that the prosecution department is not delivering its full potential. Is it because of the deprivation of funds or shortage of staff? We shall examine the factors that contribute to this underperformance through the course of this article.
Until a few years ago, all prosecutions in the High Courts were conducted by the Advocate General’s office. It eventually separated itself from criminal prosecutions when the Punjab Criminal Prosecution department was launched. Administering justice with a designated department to cater to criminal prosecutions was a plausible move indeed. However, the department has been struggling to uphold its true purpose and has not been able to come out of the woods yet.
Before homing in to the glitches within the prosecution department, it is important to bear in mind that it is a government establishment. The deprivation of funds have had some serious implications over the performance of public prosecutors trying to establish the guilt of the accused. It would be fair to comment that these financial implications have left the department in a crippling state. Low levels of motivation, accompanied by a lack of appropriate infrastructure and lack of an extensive variety of books and law resources have contributed dearly to the cause. On the other hand, the defense counsel (who are privately funded) have access to a wide range of facilities, ensuring that they will always have an upper hand over public prosecutors unless things change drastically. The current financial situation of public prosecutors also makes them susceptible to gain finances through illegal means.