Former Chief Justice Khosa Awarded International Prize For Judicial Excellence

Former Chief Justice Khosa Awarded International Prize For Judicial Excellence
Former chief justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa has been awarded the Administration of Justice Excellence Award, 2022 by the the International Institute for Justice Excellence (IIJE) for his work in 'improving access to justice' in Pakistan

The international organisation, based in The Hague in The Netherlands, rewarded Justice Asif for his “outstanding achievements and exemplary accomplishments in enhancing the administration of justice and contributions made towards independence of the judiciary, human rights ethics, access to justice, judicial education, management, court administration, legal reform, consensus building and cooperation."

Justice Asif was commended for his 22 year career, during which he established various initiatives which served to improve access to justice in Pakistan.

He established video-linkage between the Supreme Court (SC) in Islamabad and branch registries in Quetta, Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore. This initiative allowed lawyers to argue their cases from their own stations, rather than travel to Islamabad, facilitating cases from far-flung areas of the country and saving a major expense.

Additionally, he founded a research centre at the SC which provided access to world renowned search engines in the legal field.  He also ensured the maintenance of the SC website so lawyers could more easily avail the court's services.  Finally, he set up a mobile phone application through which litigants can access and receive information about pending cases at the SC.

The former chief justice will appear in The Hague to receive his award in the coming weeks.