Gilgit [PoGB], November 13 : Lawyers and legal bodies in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) launched a widespread protest, calling for urgent judicial reforms to address the growing crisis in the region's legal system.
The protest, which began in the regional capital, Gilgit, has quickly gained momentum, attracting not only legal professionals but also civil society activists and concerned citizens. Their demands centre on overhauling the judicial structure, improving accountability, enhancing transparency, and ensuring a more efficient legal framework in the region.
At the heart of the protests is the judiciary in PoGB, where there is a critical shortage of judges, inadequate infrastructure, and a backlog of pending cases.
Lawyers called for the establishment of a permanent high court bench and district courts in the region. Currently, the judicial system is under-resourced and unable to meet the growing needs of the population, leaving many citizens without timely access to justice.
One protester expressed frustration, and said, "We do not have a High Court bench or a Supreme Court bench. We have only one judge. We've raised this issue multiple times, but no one in the PoGB assembly has addressed it. There are countless pending cases, and the lack of judges has become a huge problem for the people of PoGB."
Despite a Pakistan Supreme Court order directing the provision of legal advisory services and the hiring of judges, little has been done to address these concerns, and the situation continues to worsen.
Another protester highlighted the disparity in the judicial hiring process, pointing out, "If there is a single vacancy for a magistrate, it gets filled immediately, but it's been nine years, and not a single judge has been hired for the Supreme Appellate Court of PoGB. This is creating a major problem for the people here. Courts are operating on administrative mandates, and there is no proper functioning of key courts, such as the labour court and family court."
The Supreme Appellate Court of PoGB is the highest judicial body in the region. It has the authority to hear appeals from lower courts, including the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court, the region's highest court.
However, the Supreme Appellate Court is currently overwhelmed with a massive backlog of cases due to not having Judges.
The protesters argue that the current judicial system is inadequate and unable to serve the growing needs of the region's population. The lack of essential courts, such as family courts and labour courts, has left civil judges to handle a wide range of cases, further burdening an already overstretched system.