South Asian Chapter of CJEI - A Blueprint for Establishing a Regional Judicial Education Body

Abstract

The annual Intensive Study Program (ISP) of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute (CJEI) is a great source of new ideas for the judicial education programs in Pakistan and elsewhere. The reason is that it has diversity in its subjects and the participants it invites every year. The sharing of knowledge, experience and practices of their own jurisdictions from around the Commonwealth cause the participants to feel equipped to consider the gaps that exist in their own jurisdictions about the judicial education methodologies and techniques. The annual exercise thus becomes a continuous source of fresh ideas and learning of international best practices in judicial education.

The CJEI has taught us not only to share information and experiences, but also to inculcate good relations at personal level with judges, magistrates and judicial educators of other jurisdictions. It brings judiciaries nearer to each other and allows the institution of judiciary in each jurisdiction to seek input from other relevant judiciary whenever required and wherever relevant. However, the diversity of participants and jurisdictions at the CJEI is Commonwealth-large. Hence, by bringing the experiences of nearest jurisdictions for sharing at neighborhood level, we can help the relevant institutions of judicial education in their learning ideas and finding ways-forward for the problems, issues and their prospective solutions that are most suitable in the given circumstances keeping in view the more commonalities than the diversities. This is possible if a regional judicial education body is established as a replica of CJEI under its overall umbrella.

South Asian (SA) countries have advantage of having formal judicial education bodies since last couple of decades. Hence, it is presumed that they are able to understand the real issues the judiciaries are confronting these days as far as the training needs are concerned. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) works for the people of region on different issues sans judicial cooperation. Afghanistan was not a founding member of Saarc. However, it joined the Association in recent past.

The Commonwealth Organization website provides that not all the Saarc Member States are members of Commonwealth. However, non-members are after all part of the South Asian Region. Hence, to make a case on the subject for all is, thus, relevant.

Keywords: judicial education, Pakistan, regional judicial education body, CJEI, SAARC, South Asia, Federal Judicial Academy, Punjab Judicial Academy, Sindh Judicial Academy, Balochistan Judicial Academy, KPK Judicial Academy, FJA, judicial training, judges training, judges education, access to justice

JEL Classification: K40, D63, G38, H52, H7, K00, K10, K40, K30, K20, N40, N45, O19, j10, L10, Z10