Justice Munib Akhtar of the Pakistan Supreme Court, on Saturday virtually addressed the 18th meeting of Chief Justices of the Supreme Courts of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Pakistan had yesterday refused to participate in the event. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had said that Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, would not participate in the meeting being held from March 10 to 12 in India
However later in the day, the country decided to reverse its decision and announced that it would participate in the meeting of Chief Justices of SCO member countries, albeit with a change. Instead of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, his brother judge Muneeb Akhtar participated in the conference via a video link.
Organised by the Supreme Court of India, the three-day event started yesterday in New Delhi.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud addressed the august gathering on Thursday. he said that several courts and Tribunals in India, with the Supreme Court at the apex, have been working tirelessly to address a large number of disputes that arise between people.
The CJI further said that the Covid-19 pandemic forced the judicial system, especially in India, to adopt modern methods to impart justice. He added that it was the goal of the Supreme Court to evolve the judicial institutions as a matter of principle, and not wait for another pandemic to take active decisions.
CJI Chandrachud, along with Supreme Court judges – Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph, among others, is participating in the three-day event, which aims at developing judicial cooperation among the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
The Public Relations Office of the Supreme Court of India had issued a statement on Wednesday, which said that Chief Justices/ Chairpersons of the Supreme Courts of SCO Member States have been invited to attend the event, which was likely to witness discussions on smart courts and the future of judiciary; facilitating access to justice; institutional challenges facing the judiciary: delays, infrastructure, representation, and transparency.
The meeting would involve a Joint interaction with the Chief Justices/Chairpersons/Judges from Member/Observer States, along with representatives from SCO Secretariat and SCO RATS. The event will conclude with the signing of a joint statement, it added.
The statement said in the active and constantly expanding activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the interaction of the highest judicial instances was becoming more and more popular.
Meeting of the Presidents of the Supreme Courts allows for a constant dialogue on a wide range of issues, giving a new impetus to the development of relations and allowing the development of mechanisms for further improving the work of the judiciary, it added.
Speaking about the history of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, it said that SCO was created in 2001 on the basis of ‘Shanghai Five,’ formed after the signing by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia and Tajikistan.
The main goal of SCO was to strengthen mutual trust, friendship and good neighbourliness, besides encouraging effective cooperation in several areas among the member states.
China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were the members of SCO, while Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia constituted the SCO observers. Besides, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Nepal were the SCO dialogue partners, it added.
India had assumed the rotational presidency of SCO for a year in September, 2022 through the Samarkand declaration.
CJI Chandrachud will be speaking on “Smart Courts” and the future of the Judiciary. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul will speak on facilitating “Access to Justice” (Justice should not be limited to privileged): Issues, Initiative, and Prospects; and Justice K M Joseph will speak on “Institutional Challenges facing Judiciary: Delays, Infrastructure, Representation and Transparency”.
SCO held its first meeting on September 22, 2006 in Shanghai (People’s Republic of China). Since then, the Institute of interaction between the Chief Justices of the Supreme Courts has occupied a special place in the organisation, significantly complementing an established unique practice of cooperation. The 17th meeting of the Presidents of the Supreme Courts of the Member States of the SCO was held in Dushanbe, it added.