I had sent a letter with a proposal having necessary interventions to Dr. Usman Anwar (Inspector General Punjab Police) in November 2023 but I yet to get a response letter from their side. I don’t know either my suggestions are accepted or rejected or under discussion. So, I have decided to share it with you here in a series. The first suggestions I proposed is as follows;
Timely Justice System – Appointments of Traffic Officials as Magistrate Class III
Background:
Almost every day, citizens witness quarrels / physical fights on roads of Lahore & other urban cities of Punjab upon unintentional collision of vehicles or due to severe driving negligence causing accidents between two or more than two vehicles. Drivers always stop their cars in the middle of the roads upon accidents/collision and their quarrel / fight not only disturbs the flow of traffic but also turns violent and many a times, both parties indulge in physical fight and injure each other & make criminal offense. It is also seen that real victim (whose vehicle got damaged) faces oppression/pressure by the opposite side or they won’t be able to get justice/real compensation upon loss/damage to their vehicle. Furthermore, parties either settle the issue on the spot but upon failure, file complaint to the regular police station upon no resolution/settlement & it end up in long trials in court of law.
Moreover, there are many other offenses committed by vehicle drivers/motorcyclists for which immediate action & provision of timely justice/settlement is required.
Intervention: In order to provide justice in no time & resolve the issues between parties, it is proposed that Traffic Police Official at the rank of Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) or Inspector (Sector/Zone In-charge) may be given Judicial Powers (Magistrate Class III) to provide timely justice at the accident spot.
Benefits of Intervention:
- Citizens will get justice in no time
- Real culprit/offender shall be punished & victims will receive compensation to their loss
- Innocents will be proved innocents & real offender as offender which is a real task of law enforcers in the world
- People will stop stepping against traffic rules and will not cross lawful boundaries
- Rapid process will boost sense of responsibility and fear among citizens that they should not indulge in unethical arguments or physical fight
- Respect and believe in justice system
- Better traffic management and provision of quality justice services
Implementation Process:
Traffic Police Officer with powers of Judicial Magistrate (Class III) shall;
- Reach the spot and personally witness the issue/accident
- Collect evidence at the spot
- Take help from Safe City Cameras installed at roads
- Record statements / evidence in an online application (which will also be available latter for judgement by Magistrate Class II upon filing of appeal)
At the spot, the Traffic Police officer/Magistrate Class III shall be able to;
- Give decision that who is responsible/guilty and who is not
- Impose immediate fine/punishment;
- To compensate the loss/damage to vehicle/person (market value)
- Upon violation of traffic law/rules & under Pakistan Procedure Code (PPC)
- Termination of traffic license completely or for certain time
- Re-appearance in traffic license exams
- Any other
- May announce arrest;
- for not paying the imposed fine/compensation at the spot (under the enactment of new traffic law discussed later) or after a certain given timeline
- If minors driving the vehicle & to owners of vehicles
- Any other offence under law
- Make assessment if fine imposed by Warden on traffic rule violation is based on facts or penalize him (official) upon wrongful actions
- Launch of F.I.R under PPC, if required
- Refer special case directly to court of Magistrate class II
- Any other punishment/compensation may be imposed decided / written under the law
Requirements for Magistrate Class III:
- Rank of Inspector/DSP or specially hired/deputed person for the purpose
- Graduate/LL.B degree
- Provision of short term training on legal aspects/rules of traffic / dispute settlement
(Special officers – Law Grads may be recruited for the purpose)
Accessories with Official:
- Cellular Phone with camera
- Online application designed to record bio data / evidence / statements and decision
- Access to safe city cameras/official
Example:
Lahore may be divided into 4 zones. It may have;
- 12 officers (3 for each zone)
- Each officer shall serve duty for 8 hours out of 24 hours
Appeal to Magistrate Class II:
Objective: If a citizen feels that Magistrate Class III has made a wrong decision then Appeal shall be available to the law offender.
The person who committed the crime/guilty and was punished/fined by Magistrate Class III may file appeal to Magistrate Class II in the special courts of Traffic Police under the given timeline. People may represent/plead their own cases and will not be required to hire any lawyer.
It is also proposed that a separate Traffic Police Building/offices may be constituted / constructed in each Divisional Capital city of Punjab which may consists of;
- Court Rooms / offices for Magistrate Class II. It shall be equipped with;
- online appearance system which will cater appeals of same city and all other cities of division so that no one will be required to visit divisional capital office court
- Access to online application which will have all evidence recorded by the Magistrate Class III on the spot
- Rooms equipped with online system to be available in traffic offices in all cities so that local citizens may access the system and appear online before court of Magistrate Class II instead of visiting the Divisional Headquarter office.
New Traffic Police Building may also consist of;
- Temporary Jails for traffic law violation which will cater 3 to 10 days imprisonment
- Traffic Police officials Rooms
- Traffic Police Hostel
- Training center
- Seminar Rooms
- Women Police Station
Requirements for Magistrate Class II:
- Graduate & LL.B degree
- Traffic Police Officer with Grade 18 or above
(Special officers – Law Grads may be recruited for the purpose)
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