��������

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s chief justice has announced that all courts across the country will be fully solar-powered and connected through a nationwide E-Court system by August 2026, the Supreme Court of Pakistan said in a statement on Tuesday.

The move comes as Pakistan’s judiciary continues to face heavy case backlogs, slow trial processes and limited access to justice in rural and remote areas. Digitization and standardization of court infrastructure have been repeatedly recommended in judicial reform reports as essential to improving transparency, reducing adjournments, and making legal proceedings more accessible for citizens.

Chief Justice Yahya Afridi chaired a high-level policy meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday to steer progress on automation and digitization across the justice system. 

Reaffirming the judiciary’s modernization agenda, Afridi “noted that by August 2026, all courts across Pakistan will be solar-powered and equipped with e-libraries, women facilitation centers, and clean drinking water facilities.” 

He underscored that “the next major milestone is the establishment of a fully integrated E-Court ecosystem, linking all tiers of the judiciary through secure digital platforms.”

Earlier in the meeting, Afridi emphasized that the reform drive is intended to make justice more citizen centric. 

“The digital transformation of the justice sector – from District Courts to the Supreme Court – is a citizen-centric reform aimed at ensuring accessibility, transparency, and efficiency,” he said.

The Supreme Court said that the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC) will guide the rollout. The Federal Judicial Academy has been directed to conduct focused consultations so that system design aligns with judicial needs. The Ministry of IT will finalize a preparedness checklist covering infrastructure, connectivity, data governance, and cybersecurity.

The initiative is aligned with the federal government’s National Digital Masterplan, which lists law and justice among its priority sectors for digital transformation.

The program involves coordination with provincial judicial administrations, bar councils and information technology agencies to ensure standardized deployment across trial courts, high courts and the Supreme Court. The statement said the measures were designed to reduce procedural bottlenecks and improve the experience of citizens seeking legal remedies.

The statement said the digital overhaul was aligned with broader governance reforms and would contribute to more efficient service delivery in legal processes. It noted that technology-enabled courtrooms and case files would support transparency, reduce paperwork and help improve monitoring of case progress.

Pakistan has previously introduced limited technology-based reforms, including video-linked courtrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic and electronic payment facilities for court fees. However, officials say the newly announced initiative is the first coordinated nationwide effort to systematically digitize court operations.

Legal experts say Pakistan’s judicial system remains under strain from heavy case backlogs, uneven provincial infrastructure, and longstanding procedural delays. Advocates have previously called for reforms in case scheduling, witness attendance procedures and digitization of court archives to reduce pendency.