Strengthening the role of prosecution services through the Pakistan Prosecution Forum

© UNODC-Pakistan

14 June 2023, Murree - Prosecution is an important function that needs to be delivered with extreme vigilance and public responsibility to ensure that the constitutional rights of the citizens are protected. The Pakistan Prosecution Forum (PPF) is playing a pivotal role in strengthening prosecution services in Pakistan. As a flagship platform of provincial prosecution departments, the PPF brings together provincial prosecution departments to enable sharing of lessons and good practices with the purpose to enhance and harmonize the role of prosecution services in the justice sector in Pakistan. The Forum has been instrumental in bolstering the role of prosecution in the Criminal Justice System in Pakistan.

The 16^th meeting of the Pakistan Prosecution Forum was held on 14th June 2023 in Murree with generous funding from the US Embassy's Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) and technical support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The Forum provided an opportunity to bring together senior leadership of the provincial prosecution departments, including Special Secretary KP Mr. Akbar Ali Khan, Prosecutor General Punjab Mr. Rana Abdul Majeed, Deputy Prosecutor General Sindh Mr. Muhammad Noonari & District Public Prosecutor ICT Mr. Muhammad Naseem Zia in addition to other stakeholders.

© UNODC-Pakistan

Syed Waqas Shah, Officer-In-Charge Criminal Justice and Legal Reforms from UNODC, elaborated the agenda and purpose, appreciating the ground-breaking role of PPF, which is emerging as a successful platform in catalyzing policy reforms towards enhancing the performance of the provincial prosecution departments.

The proceedings of the 16^th PPF built on the momentum of the previous meetings, underscoring the need for the adoption of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) by the provincial prosecution departments. It was unanimously agreed that the KPIs are important for streamlining the due process of prosecution across the chain of investigation to ensure robustness and integrity in the legal analysis and decision-making.

While prosecutors aim to secure convictions, they also have a responsibility to ensure that the accused receives a fair trial. In Pakistan, the role of a public prosecutor is narrowly defined, limiting effective coordination with police investigators to provide legal guidance in trial preparations. To this end, adoption of KPIs will go a long way in streamlining procedures and coordination.

The PPF concluded with mutual agreements on delivering an overall monitoring framework informed by relevant
KPIs in order to deliver fair and speedy justice and act with due diligence in the public interest.

The 16^th PPF was funded by the US Embassy's Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) as part of Pakistan's Terrorism Prevention Programme (PTP2).