Almost a year after the Senate approved special courts to deal with the property disputes of overseas Pakistanis, the country is taking further strides to accommodate legal grievances of its citizens living abroad. The Supreme Court has now established an Overseas Litigants Facilitation Cell that aims to improve channels of communication between the diaspora and the court.
Pre-existing channels that addressed legal problems for overseas Pakistanis have long been riddled with inefficiencies and delays, especially as they had no practical alternative for citizens being unable to appear in court. Overseas litigants often rely on relatives, acquaintances or even legal agents to represent them in court, which works as a temporary solution at best. With most legal matters stretching on for years, the system is bound to collapse or even be detrimental to the case.
While the private sector has filled in the gap concerning diaspora’s demand for legal representation, it remains a financially exhaustive and drawn-out process. Therefore, despite the availability of assistive arenas, fulfilling the rights of overseas Pakistanis under the country’s law is emphatically the state’s responsibility – and the facilitation cell is an admirable step in that direction. Expatriates will now be able to contact the cell through a dedicated WhatsApp number; submit applications and complaints directly to the court; file requests for early hearings; and submit documentation and proof in the form of videos.
The court also plans to digitise case files and copies of judgements for the sake of convenience and transparency. In the age of technology, this step is long overdue, more so in view of the haphazard state of our archiving process. If efficiently administered and maintained, the facilitation cell is well on its way to change how due legal process is treated for the better, both within and outside this country.
