'Tragic, unbelievable and shocking' attack on PIC opportunity for introspection and self-accountability: CJP.

ISLAMABAD -- Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa on Saturday said that the "tragic, unbelievable and shocking" attack on Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) earlier this week is "an opportunity for introspection and self-accountability".

"Our hearts and our minds reach out to the victims and their families. We hope and pray all concerned would like to uphold the values attached to the legal profession as well as the medical profession," said CJP Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, addressing the national conference in Islamabad on expeditious justice.

Justice Khosa said that he has always believed "divinity, law and medicine [to be] the noblest of professions". He called on those employed in these professions to make "every effort to keep the nobility of such professions intact".

He expressed hope that "better sense will prevail" not just in this particular incident and its aftermath but in the future as well.

The chief justice then said he would refrain from saying more on the subject as the matter is sub-judice before the Lahore High Court.

The chief justice in his address to the gathering spoke of the reforms brought about in the justice system fraught with delays over the eleven months. He said that many bridges were crossed, but one thing was constant, the desire to "do something".

"We will not go down without a fight. Lord Almighty has given us an opportunity to serve our people and we shall not allow this opportunity to go to waste," said Justice Khosa.

He said that even on January 18, during the full court reference for the outgoing chief justice, as he presented his future plans he had said: "This Baloch blood in me forces me to do something. Something that serves our well being and prosperity."

The chief justice said that the biggest rebuke faced by the judiciary was what seemed like "the death of trial courts" in Pakistan. "There was no hope left. People were thinking of conceiving a different system altogether.

"But we thought of doing something to make the system work. God says he helps those who help themselves. So we were determined to bring about a change," said Justice Khosa.

He said that while the possibility of law reforms was there, with 15-20 commissions having been formed in the past on changing the law, the procedure and the court structure, all the recommendations were buried in books. "We said we won't do it. We will look for ways from within the existing systems, laws, and procedures.

"The same judges, the...