UNODC and Sindh

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute

for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, September 32021; The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in partnership with the Prosecution Department of Sindh launched a software-based Case Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) at an inauguration ceremony in Karachi on Friday.

 

The CMMS which has been developed under the framework of Pakistan’s Action to Counter Terrorism (PACT) and is designed to automate the Prosecution Department’s administrative processes such as case assignment and tracking, streamlining the department's workflows, and create administrative efficiency in case management and adjudication. In particular, the CMMS will help the assignment of complex cases to multiple experienced counsels, tracking of court proceedings as well as monitoring of the quality of prosecutions across Sindh province.

 

To maximize the operational efficiency of the CMMS, UNODC through the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) has also provided Prosecution Department with essential equipment including laptops and computers. 

 

The inauguration ceremony was presided over by the Honorable Mr. Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, Senior Puisne Judge, Sindh High Court, and attended by Mr. François Zablot, EU’s Counter-Terrorism Counsellor in Pakistan on behalf of EU’s Ambassador to Pakistan H.E. Androulla Kaminara, Country Representative of UNODC Mr. Jeremy Milsom, and key officials belonging to Sindh Police, Prosecution Department, and Judiciary.

 

The Honorable Chief Guest lauded the initiative, as well as its promising impact on operational efficiency across Sindh’s criminal justice system, “This is a valuable innovation that will generate a compounding positive impact with use over time that will not be limited to prosecution department alone.”

 

The European Union’s Counter-Terrorism Counsellor in Pakistan Mr. François Zablot iterated EU’s resolute support in preventing and countering terrorism and added that “CMMS was a crucial need of the hour to ensure transparency, accountability, and oversight when dealing with anti-terrorism cases. I hope that with effective use of this tool, we can enhance the capacity of the prosecution department, leading to successful adjudications.”

 

While making his remarks, the UNODC Country Representative Dr. Jeremy Milsom stated “I am pleased to see this initiative come to fruition, the CMMS is a prime example of the use of technology to improve and enhance existing processes. CMMS enjoyed tremendous success in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was a perfect use case for Sindh. We hope to see it be even more successful in Sindh”

 

Participants of the inauguration ceremony were led through a presentation on the features of CMMS followed by a practical demonstration of case registration.

 

The initiative has been made possible under the framework of Pakistan’s Action to Counter Terrorism (PACT) project Sindh with the financial support of the European Union. This project was a result of a partnership between UNODC and the Government of Pakistan through various federal and provincial stakeholders to enhance investigation processes and the use of forensic evidence by the Sindh Police to effectively prosecute and adjudicate terrorism cases and improve provincial and inter-provincial coordination and capacity for preventing and countering terrorism.