A Judge, besides being just and fair to all, should have a heart of a lion, nerves of steel, wisdom of a sage: CJP Khosa.

ISLAMABAD -- A full court reference to pay tributes to the services of Outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa for judiciary was held at the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Friday.

The Outgoing Chief Justice, in his remarks, said that his approach mainly focused on improving the justice delivery system. He said during his tenure, the principle of separation of powers was adhered to, judicial restraint was exercised and dignity and respect was ensured for all appearing before the court.

Enumerating the steps taken during his tenure to improve justice system, he said an all-out effort was made by him to put our house in order.

Chief justice said that his tenure as the Chief Justice of Pakistan lasted for a little over 11 months, or 337 days to be exact. If the weekends and gazetted holidays are excluded then I had about 235 working days in that capacity. Initially that period appeared to be too short to make any meaningful contribution but in hindsight it appears to be long enough for taking some critical steps and for initiating reforms in the justice sector. Some of such initiatives taken during these days are as follows:

The image of this Court as a dignified judicial forum sitting at the apex of judicial hierarchy was maintained, the principle of separation of powers was adhered to, judicial restraint was exercised and dignity and respect was ensured for all appearing before the Court as lawyers, litigants or officials.

An all out effort was made to put our own house in order with an approach focusing mainly on improving the justice delivery system.

The principle of falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus was reintroduced in our legal system because in the absence of truthful testimonies justice may only be illusory.

The rampant practice of seeking and granting adjournments was effectively discouraged so as to minimise delays in disposition of cases.

Video-linkage was established between the Principal Seat of this Court at Islamabad and its Branch Registries at Quetta, Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore facilitating lawyers to argue their cases from their own stations rather than travelling to and staying at Islamabad for that purpose. Huge expenditure which the litigant public had to incur in this regard previously is now substantially curtailed. This step also makes it possible for the lawyers to attend to their other cases fixed at their local stations on the same day. The elderly lawyers whose mobility has become restricted on account of age are availing this facility with great satisfaction.

A state of the art Research Centre has been established in this Court which has access to the world renowned search engines in the legal field. As many as ten serving Civil Judges, trained in the United States of America, are now available at that Centre to assist the Hon'ble Judges with research on every conceivable aspect of law worldwide.

The website of this Court has been revamped and upgraded facilitating the lawyers and litigants in getting information about all judicial and administrative services being provided by the Court.

A mobile telephone application has been launched through which any person can access and receive information about any case pending before the Court besides being able to read and download any interim or final order passed by the Court in any case.

An e-Kiosk has been installed near the Bar Room at Islamabad for assisting the lawyers and litigants in finding out the status and progression of any case pending at the Principal Seat or at any Branch Registry of this Court.

Work is already in progress on introducing and utilizing Artificial Intelligence in the Court's working for facilitating the Hon'ble Judges.

The Supreme Court Estacode has been compiled and launched consolidating in one book all the constitutional and legal provisions relevant to this Court and all the notifications, circulars, orders...