Balochistan Rule of Law Roadmap Visit to the UK – (October 2019)
At the request of UNODC, Optima Rule of Law arranged and delivered a study visit to the UK from Sunday 20th October to Friday 25th October for leading members of the Balochistan justice system. The delegates were:
- Justice Muhammad Ejaz, Judge of the High Court
- Mr Mohsin Hassan Butt, Inspector General of Police
- Mr Muhammad Yousaf, Inspector General of Prisons
- Mr Umer Khan, Secretary of the Prosecution Department
- Mr Mujeeb ur Rehman, Director of Reclamation and Probation
- Mr Abdul Nasir, Lead Coordinator of the Rule of Law Delivery Unit
The delegation was able to meet a wide range of very senior justice sector professionals and had privileged access to UK experience and learning. It was clear that the UK Criminal Justice System is itself continuing to evolve. The pace of change has at times been rapid, and much learning derived from mistakes that have been made. This was particularly evident in the changes to police practice following the collapse of trials and the loss of public and community support caused by the mistreatment of defendants in the 1980s.
Key themes and principles emerged throughout the week and were brought together in a final review session. The objectives were all covered in detail and delivered learning at the strategic and tactical levels.
The theme of the importance of working together was clearly made throughout. The police, prosecution, Government, courts, inspectorates, probation and judiciary all share information and work harmoniously. The use of data was also central to all institutions and organisations to monitor and improve performance, although it was seen that there is still a way to go (as electronic systems were often incompatible]. All justice sector stakeholders are working hard to continuously improve and further join up and all were mindful of the impact that their work had on other parts of the chain and use a range of information to direct their work. It was notable that engagement went beyond traditional CJS players; for example, the police use health system data to develop policy on knife crime.
The delegation saw how the system engaged with the public and used data in order to monitor and improve performance and set targets. Again, this was stark at the police station, where intelligence derived from the community was crucial to dealing with crime effectively, both on a case-by-case basis and at a strategic level. We even heard how the police and prison were working with academia to develop ways of diverting people from criminal behaviour.
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